Christofias: same old, same old at the talks

A ‘GREAT distance’ separates the two sides on the issue of citizenship in the talks, said President Demetris Christofias yesterday after meeting Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu.

Speaking on his return to the presidential palace, Christofias gave the rather bleak assessment that “nothing positive” came out of the latest meeting between the two leaders.

Christofias said the two leaders discussed the issue of citizenship in a reunified federal Cyprus during yesterday’s meeting which lasted nearly two hours. He noted that nothing new came out of the meeting, “nor anything positive”.

“The two sides repeated their known positions on the issue of settlers and citizenship. We are separated by a great distance which is why I said there was nothing new. We repeated our positions,” he said.

Asked to elaborate, the president said Eroglu considers legitimate the number of ‘citizenships’ issued by the breakaway state in the north.

“Here is our big problem. And we certainly believe that the same so-called state is the result of violations of international law through invasion and occupation and has been condemned by the UN through unanimous resolutions of the UN Security Council and European Court of Human Rights,” he added.

UN Special Representative in Cyprus Lisa Buttenheim said yesterday the two leaders set out their basic principles on citizenship during yesterday’s meeting. A new meeting between the leaders has been set for March 18, while their respective aides will meet again this Friday.

In a progress report issued last week, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced his concern about the slow pace of the talks, highlighting the need to make progress before the election cycles in Turkey and Cyprus begin.

He also hinted at the failure of the two leaders to highlight the positive developments taking place in the negotiations, focusing instead on negative stumbling blocks, thereby not preparing their respective publics for a future settlement.

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