UN SPECIAL envoy Alexander Downer is expected to give the two leaders a pep talk when he joins them in their next meeting on Friday.
Although the language is couched diplomatically, the bottom line is that the UN is unhappy with the pace of the talks and with the counterproductive statements both leaders are making through the media.
Downer usually makes a brief statement to the leaders before they start their meetings.
On Friday, he is expected to give President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat “his impressions of where the talks are at, and where they are going”, according to sources close to the process.
He is also expected to ask them to stop talking to each other through the media and to refrain from making inflammatory speeches at international fora.
This was likely aimed at Talat, who listed a litany of grievances to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe last Wednesday.
A UN request for more frequent meetings could also be on the cards.
The leaders have met three times since September 3, the date the talks were officially inaugurated. They have been discussing governance and power sharing but a leaked report to Turkish Cypriot media on Monday said they had only agreed seven out of 20 points related to the overall issue.
Eleven points of discussion have been postponed, and the leaders are in complete disagreement over two points. One relates to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which has a direct bearing on the possible oil and gas deposits off Cyprus.
The second relates to antiquities and would likely impact on the return of the cultural heritage lost since the 1974 Turkish invasion.
“Mr Downer is expected to explore with the leaders how he can be more helpful to them and how he can be more active,” said the sources. “He will be sounding them out on this.”
They made it clear, however, that nothing would be done without the nod from Christofias and Talat, as both sides have an aversion to any sort of arbitration from the UN or other foreign mediators.
“Arbitration is something that’s imposed. Mediation is not,” said the sources.
At the moment, Downer sits in on the meetings and helps the leaders by making suggestions. A more active role would involve him being handed tricky problems to weigh up and come back to the leaders for their agreement.
It is understood that the UN would also like to see more of the issues being handed over to the aides to the two leaders, Presidential Commissioner George Iacovou, and Ozdil Nami, the advisor to Talat. Both men headed up the work of the technical committees and working groups, which laid the groundwork for the talks to commence.
Handing some of the sticky issues to them to work through to take back to the leaders for approval could speed up the pace of the negotiations, the UN feels.
Reports yesterday said Downer’s statement to the leaders has already been given the green light by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Dower will arrive today, coming in from Brussels where he met EU Commissioner Olli Rehn yesterday.
When he leaves Cyprus at the weekend, Downer will go on to London for contacts with the British government.
