UN SECRETARY-GENERAL Ban Ki-moon’s bland comments about the Cyprus talks at the weekend drew an angry reaction from the Greek Cypriot parties, all of which expressed disapproval for his alleged bias. What had he said that caused such offence and sparked a unanimous condemnation by the political parties?
He appealed to the two leaders to reduce their differences through a “spirit of compromise and win-win” adding that it was essential for them to “show flexibility and examine the issues in depth”. There had been some progress on the economy and the EU but on the issues of security and property there was still much that had to be done.
All the political parties felt that these remarks lacked objectivity as they put equal blame on the two sides for the lack of progress and spared Turkey of any responsibility. Dervis Eroglu, who took his orders from Anakra, was squarely to blame for the lack of progress and Ban was being unfair in putting the two sides in the same boat.
But how realistic is it to expect Ban to publicly blame the one side for the lack of progress at a time when talks are in progress? And how realistic was it to expect him to publicly censure Turkey for not helping the procedure, especially while visiting Istanbul? Even during the years of the Denktash intransigence the UN avoided apportioning blame, so there was no chance it would happen while the two sides are talking.
The fact that we were just a couple of weeks away from elections may explain the angry reaction to an extent, all parties showing off their tough stance on the national problem.
The AKEL spokesman introduced a sense of perspective, when he said that Ban’s “plea to both sides for a more reconciliatory stance is an established plea that has been sent out by the UN for many years now”. He was absolutely right in pointing this out.
Perhaps the angry reaction had something to do with the realisation that if the two sides failed to resolve their differences Ban would be forced to change the procedure – setting up a four-party conference with Greece and Turkey – something that the Greek Cypriot side wants to avoid at all costs. Foreign Minister Marcos Kyprianou, on his departure for Turkey, said that he would argue against such a conference at his meeting with Ban.
The government spokesman made it quite clear that if there was no progress the talks could end rather than the procedure being changed. There will be tough choices to be made at the end of June when Ban meets the two leaders.
