PRESIDENT DEMETRIS Christofias yesterday denounced as “provocation” a report portraying him and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat as legal lightweights and “sorcerers’ apprentices who can’t stop shouting at each other during talks.
The President seemed evidently ruffled at Larnaca airport where he was about to depart for Brussels. Speaking to reporters, Christofias raised the issue of a Reuters Blog post which presented the two leaders as being unaware of the legal aspects of the Cyprus issue and constantly at loggerheads.
The article quoted an unnamed “senior Western diplomat” saying: “Both of them have trouble grappling with the language and terms. They are not lawyers like Clerides and Denktash.” The blog also referred to the “shouting and screaming” that goes on behind closed doors when the two are negotiating.
Christofias dismissed the report as misleading and manipulative, questioning the source of the comments.
“A Reuters article is doing the rounds claiming supposedly that Christofias and Mr Talat are sorcerers’ apprentices who don’t know legal terms, who argue and their shouts can be heard. And this is information from a diplomat,” he said, adding, “No foreign diplomat participates in the talks.”
The substance of the Cyprus issue, he pointed out, is not whether he and Talat have a legal background. “So many years in politics, we have become accustomed to the legal terms and we have very capable legal advisors,” he said.
“If the Cyprus problem was a legal issue, why didn’t the great lawyers who were leaders of the communities in the past solve it, and instead, we have inherited a problem that is more complex and even more difficult to solve,” he added.
Christofias described the allegations in the article as “provocations” and an attempt to redefine the substance of the issue.
“The substance of the problem is political. It is the violation of international law, the violation of all conventions on human rights that have been approved by international organisations, and as a result, political decisions must first be taken on the evolution of the unitary state into a federal state. It is not a legal matter”.
He called on the media not to undermine efforts for a solution, making a direct plea to local media “at least not to be carriers and transmitters of this provocation”.
Independent sources confirmed to the Cyprus Mail that the talks can get heated, especially when the two leaders haven’t met for a while but stressed that the tete-a-tete between Christofias and Talat always ended upbeat and positive.
“They sometimes clear the air but they always come out smiling and friends. And the relationship between the two leaders is key to the process.”
As for them not having a legal background, this is seen as somewhat of a plus, said the source. Whereas Denktash and Clerides used to go line by line, comma by comma, and took a very legalistic approach, Talat and Christofias approach things more from a political viewpoint.
