UN SECRETARY-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday telephoned the two leaders to express his concern at the “slow” pace of the talks in recent weeks and urged them to make “concrete advances”.
According to a UN spokesman, Ban called President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu separately to discuss “the state of the UN-supported talks on Cyprus”.
The spokesman said Ban was closely following developments in the negotiations through his Special Adviser Alexander Downer ahead of the progress report due next month.
“In his conversations with the leaders, the Secretary-General noted that the process has been slow in recent weeks and urged them to achieve concrete advances in the current discussions on property in order to maintain momentum in the peace process,” said the spokesman.
The fact that the UN chief felt the need to give the process a jolt just a week after the historic Limnitis opening perhaps reflects a lack of confidence in the will of the two leaders to progress on the property issue.
Limnitis was always meant to be a confidence-building measure. However, the road to its opening was paved with so many obstacles, that its completion failed to inspire the requisite confidence from either side.
One source close to the negotiations said the fact that Ban had called to express his “worry” about the lack of progress meant that alarm bells were ringing not just in Nicosia with Downer but also in the New York offices of the UN Department of Political Affairs.
“The UN has real doubts that the will exists for a solution on either side. Property negotiations are going round in circles,” he said.
The two leaders have been discussing the property issue for months but have yet to reach the core of the issue, as in, who gets what. If no progress is made on property, then the future is bleak for the remaining chapters, he added.
The UN is not happy with either side, according to the source. The Greek Cypriot side is seen as not being in much of a hurry in the talks while the Turkish Cypriots’ near fatal effort to have the Turkish ambassador to the breakaway state attend the Limnitis opening did not go unnoticed.
