A FLURRY of activity is underway both on the island and off in preparation for the two leaders meeting with the UN chief in Geneva next week.
President Demetris Christofias chaired a meeting of the National Council yesterday to update party leaders on the latest developments in the talks. UN Special Adviser Alexander Downer also met with Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu while today he is reportedly flying to Turkey to meet with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
Meanwhile, Eroglu met with his predecessors Rauf Denktash and Mehmet Ali Talat, after which he had a meeting with Israeli Ambassador to Nicosia Michael Harari where the two reportedly discussed the Cyprus problem and the Cyprus-Israel agreement for the delineation of their respective Exclusive Economic Zones.
Eroglu’s aide Kudret Ozersay has been in the UK meeting with British officials to discuss the negotiations in light of next week’s meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. He also met with former UK envoy to Cyprus David Hannay.
US Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Phil Gordon has also arrived in Cyprus for a three-day visit. He will not be making any other stops in the region during his visit.
Speaking after the National Council meeting, government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said the latest positions submitted by the Turkish Cypriot side in the talks were “problematic”.
He hoped that the during the two leaders’ meeting tomorrow, the last before Geneva, Eroglu would revise his stance and behaviour in favour of a settlement.
Stefanou reiterated that Christofias was working “very decisively and very constructively” to reach convergences at the negotiating table and hoped the Turkish Cypriot negotiating team would do the same.
After the Council meeting, EDEK leader Yiannakis Omirou noted that Eroglu’s proposals submitted last week on a “confederation” proved that “the talks will take place without a clear basis of the form of a solution”.
He confirmed Turkish Cypriot reports that Eroglu’s latest proposals were on the creation of two state entities that may conclude international agreements, will have dual sovereignty, and provide Turkey guarantor rights over the entire territory of a united Republic.
He called once again for the president to withdraw “the known concessions” on weighted voting, rotating presidency and allowing 50,000 settlers to remain post-solution.
Omirou questioned how long Ban would watch as the basis of the negotiations is undermined without saying anything.
Greens leader Ioanna Panayiotou said her party raised the issue of a census in the north, saying it should be a precondition for the continuation of the talks.
EVROKO leader Demetris Syllouris said his party’s views were confirmed once again that things were not moving forward. He repeated his view that the government was following the wrong strategy. Eroglu’s latest proposal, like Talat’s last January clearly came straight from Turkey, he said, “so why are pretending that we have a solution by Cypriots for Cypriots?”
Speaking after his meeting with Christofias, Downer said the Geneva meeting was “going to be an important part of the process”.
He said Ban looked forward to hearing from the leaders not just how they have been getting on for the last two months but also how they plan to address the core issues. “And he will look forward to hearing about the plans for the future as well from both of the leaders,” he said.
