THE CYPRUS talks will resume on the morning of May 26 at the UN-controlled Nicosia airport, the UN announced yesterday.
According to an official statement released yesterday, the announcement comes following consultations between UN Special Adviser Alexander Downer and the leaders of the two communities.
The meeting in three weeks will be the first between President Demetris Christofias and new Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu. There has been much speculation as to whether Eroglu will allow the talks to continue from where they left off or whether he will seek to go back and revise some or all that had been agreed by his predecessor Mehmet Ali Talat.
In recent days, Downer has sought to play down fears that Eroglu will prove as intransigent as his political mentor and ally, Rauf Denktash.
Speaking after a meeting with Downer yesterday, DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades said the Australian diplomat “believes that the talks should start from where they left off and hopes that in this way, the prospect of reaching an agreed solution will be determined”.
Downer confirmed to Anastassaides that the message he got from Eroglu was that the latter would approach the talks on the basis of the May 23 and July 1, 2008, joint statements made by Christofias and Talat.
The key issue here is whether Eroglu accepts that a united Cyprus will not be limited to a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality and a single international personality, as stated on May 23, but will also be defined by its single sovereignty and single citizenship, as stipulated on July 1.
In statements to the press, Eroglu has said he is bound by the letter sent to the UN Secretary-General where he said that the equal status of two founder states should be the milestones of solution efforts in Cyprus.
Anastassiades said he asked Downer for clarification on the issue. “He said he neither had the power nor was it even possible to overturn UN resolutions. Therefore, his position is limited to the parameters as set out in the resolutions, that is, a single international personality, sovereignty and citizenship.”
What Eroglu does in the talks will show whether Downer’s appraisal was right or not, he noted.
The DISY leader repeated his call for an international conference on Cyprus, including Turkey, arguing that Turkey needs to be at the negotiating table, instead of sitting on the sidelines expressing support for the peace process.
Asked if he felt isolated on the issue, he said: “I want to clarify something. The issue is about Cyprus, the Greek Cypriot side, not being isolated, not Nicos Anastassiades. I do not feel isolated at all.”
He said Turkey was being relieved of responsibility and acting as a third party in good faith working towards a solution when everyone knows she is mainly responsible for the continuing occupation and current impasse.
Bringing Turkey to the negotiating table through an international conference would allow Cyprus to discuss the withdrawal of settlers, properties which the ECHR holds Turkey responsible for and territorial adjustments, he argued.
