Turkish side’s proposals handed over

THE UNITED Nations yesterday handed President Demetris Christofias the Turkish Cypriot side’s proposals on governance and power-sharing, which will be discussed during the intensive talks on Monday.
The proposals were given to Christofias by UN special envoy Alexander Downer.
On receiving the proposals the president summoned a meeting of party leaders this Sunday, to discuss the Turkish Cypriot proposals.
Reports said the Turkish Cypriot side has conditionally accepted the Greek Cypriot proposal for a weighted vote or cross vote.
This would mean that both communities will vote for president and vice president though the Greek Cypriot vote would be weighted based on the population ratio between the two communities.
One of the conditions set is that Turkish nationals will enjoy the same rights EU nationals would have in Cyprus after a settlement while a second condition calls for two Flight Information Regions, reports said.
A third condition states that the president and vice president of the country would have veto powers.
Government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou declined to comment on the contents of the proposals.
The first round of intensive talks between Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat is scheduled for January 11, 12 and 13 followed by three more meetings on January 25, 26 and 27.
“The main thing is that the leaders have the chance to sit down and discuss these issues at the beginning of the coming week and will be able to decide about them on their own,” Downer said. “I hope the two leaders will be able to make substantial progress.”
The UN envoy reiterated there has been some convergence in the past 15 months although differences remained.
He said he hoped the procedure would speed up convergence between the two sides.
Downer said talks would not be completed by the end of January but this was a good chance to take the procedure forward.
Turkish Cypriots will be voting for their leader in April, something which some suggested condemned the talks to failure as the Turkish Cypriot side would toughen its stance.

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