THE UN would be committing a “major mistake” if it tried to repeat what it did in 2004 to end the division of the island, said the UN’s Special Envoy Alexander Downer yesterday.
Speaking after a meeting with House President Marios Garoyian, Downer said he wanted to dispel the idea put forth by some that the UN wants to present a blueprint solution to the people as it did in 2004.
“I think it would be a major mistake for the UN to try to do again what it did in 2004. I don’t think that is a good idea. I don’t think the UN should present a blueprint to Cyprus and say ‘vote for that’. I don’t think that’s the right way to go,” he said.
The UN envoy said it was up to the two leaders to negotiate between themselves an agreement they were comfortable which would more likely be accepted by the Cypriot people.
“I am not here with a blueprint… You have to determine your future. Not have the UN determine your future for you. And it is very important that people understand that,” he said.
Downer clarified that the UN would not be setting deadlines for an agreed solution. Asked to comment on Turkish President Abdullah Gul’s statement that negotiations should be concluded by the end of the year, Downer said: “What we have always said at the UN is that there shouldn’t be specific timetables. But the important thing is for there to be momentum in the process, and I think there is momentum.”
The Australian diplomat acknowledged, however, that the two leaders had diverging viewpoints on the issue of security, with Greek Cypriots wanting to do away with external guarantees and the Turkish Cypriots wishing to keep the Treaty of Guarantee.
Downer said the process was moving along well “but there is a way to go”. The two leaders are about to complete the “first reading” of the final chapter, security, after which a second more detailed reading is expected, followed by a final process of give and take.
Gul told a news conference with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat on Monday that Ankara wants a referendum by the end of 2009. He also said a new solution, based on equal power-sharing and arising from a new partnership, should replace Protocol Ten of the Accession Treaty to become primary law of the EU.
“As things now stand… if things do not change, we cannot see how it will be possible to agree by December on a solution which will then go to referendum,” said government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou.
The Turkish head of state also said that the Treaty of Guarantee and Alliance was an issue for Turkey, Greece and Britain, not Cypriots (Greek or Turkish).
President Demetris Christofias responded unequivocally, saying that Cyprus had suffered enough tragedies in the last 50 years, and matured enough to be able to look after its own affairs.
“We don’t need guarantees and guardians for our security,” he said.
AKEL leader Andros Kyprianou said if the Turkish side put proposals on the table within the agreed framework of a solution, then there could be an agreement by the end of the year which the Cypriot people in their entirety would embrace. “The ball is in their court,” he said.
Opposition DISY leader Nicos Anastasiades agreed that December was a feasible deadline if the Turkish side realised their obligations to Cyprus and the EU and understand the concerns of the Greek Cypriots.
DIKO spokesman Fotis Fotiou described Gul’s statements as “provocative” and indicative of Turkish intransigence, calling for all parties to focus on a plan B.
EDEK’s Yiannakis Omirou said it was “insulting” that Gul should decide for Cypriots whether they want Turkey as a guarantor power. He called on the President to state clearly that “Cypriot Hellenism has not decided to commit suicide”.
