THE DOOMSAYERS were out in force the day after the second substantive meeting between President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat on Thursday.
Friday’s front-page headline in right-wing Simerini screamed “Doomed” with a subhead saying the talks were going nowhere. Phileleftheros had a less dramatic headline but the implication was similar: “They want their own state….and more.”
Phileleftheros accused Talat of being negative, promoting separation and seeking powerful state powers.
Although both newspapers had the exact same information about Thursday’s meeting as the other papers, their spin could not have been more different.
It was true the two leaders had not agreed everything on the issue of governance and power sharing. It was true that Talat said they had not made great progress, but neither had they reached a deadlock.
It was also true that Christofias said Talat was speaking differently inside and outside of the meetings, but there was no indication of a crisis. Maybe the Cyprus talks are ultimately doomed to fail, but at the same time they have barely started, and for once, at least, two Cypriot leaders are actually talking.
There is an old saying that “a sour face is a reflection of sour thoughts”, which would indicate the level of difference in how some newspapers are handling the same information.
It appears the procedure is moving at a snail’s pace, which creates reasonable doubt about the degree of convergence of views on both sides, said Simerini, calling it a “quagmire”.
“Governance and power sharing has not been completed and will be discussed at the next meeting, despite five hours of discussions,” it added, as if the 34-year-old problem could be solved in two meetings of the leaders.
On the Turkish Cypriot side there were also mixed interpretations by newspapers from negative to neutral but not necessarily positive. Kibris said: “Tension in statements” and referred to “sarcastic statements” by the leaders.
“There is no progress,” said Vatan and Afrika with almost identical headlines, “Who is telling the truth?” said Halkin Sesi. “Christofias: ‘Talat acts in a double-faced manner’. Talat: ‘Let Christofias look in the mirror’,” said Ortam.
“It’s all par for the course,” said a source close to the talks. The source said it was true that listening to the leaders when they come out of the talks, one could be forgiven for thinking everyone involved was attending a different meeting.
The source said there could be a number of reasons why some newspapers had decided to view the process so far in a negative light. One was the well-known existence of factions who do not want a solution. And the closer it seemed to a solution being found, the louder they became.
Those who are looking positively at the situation and know the Cyprus issue well, will realise that the absence of a deadlock is actually progress. A lot of it is just posturing, the source said.
“The two leaders are talking seriously and are committed but they still continue to play to their respective public and pander to certain factions. They are politicians,” he said.
“This was only the second meeting of substantive talks and they have covered a lot of ground. The meetings have been long and they have not agreed on everything but they have not been acrimonious,” the source added.
He said it was all being done in a very businesslike way.
“It’s also the first time for Christofias, and for Talat It’s the first time he has had someone who is talking back to him. With Papadopoulos he was coming up against a brick wall,” the source added.
He said there were people on both sides that did not want solution. “And it’s only going to get worse,” he said. “If they see more traction, the criticism and attacks will worsen.”
Analyst Hubert Faustmann, an Associate Professor of International Relations at the University of Nicosia said there was a lot of negativity on both sides.
“But the mere format of the talks means they (the leaders) can’t agree on everything. There will be a final give and take at the end,” he said.
Faustmann said the pessimism was probably a combination of people being jaded by so many failed attempts to solve the Cyprus issue, and also the factions who don’t want a solution that were contributing to the negativity.
“Everyone is afraid of a solution. Real progress makes them afraid,” he said. “I think it’s premature to be negative.”
At the same time Faustmann said neither leader has emerged from their meetings particularly friendly to each other, despite the friendliness inside.
He said he finds the statements being made by both leaders bewildering with each seemingly trying to undermine the credibility of the other.
“Journalists in Cyprus are as much part of the problem,” he said.
“The responsible thing to do is not to leak information until a final deal has been reached.” Otherwise, he said there would be negative consequences that could undermine a solution.
