THE UN expects the July 7 tripartite meeting in Geneva to produce “a clear way forward to concluding the negotiations” on the Cyprus problem, said UN Special Adviser Alexander Downer yesterday.
Speaking after a meeting with President Demetris Christofias, the Australian diplomat said the Geneva meeting was “very important”, adding that in a very broad sense, the UN expected to see a clear way forward to concluding negotiations from the meeting.
“What we want is for the leaders to have a very clear way forward. We hope the meeting will in itself be a very useful and constructive meeting but as to what happens beyond that, we look forward to them implementing a clear plan to bring the negotiations to a conclusion,” said Downer.
He said the UN team was currently canvassing the views of both leaders on how they think this can be done. “And they need to talk with each other Christofias and (Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis) Eroglu about how best to handle this,” he said.
Downer noted that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has his own views on how he wants the Geneva meeting to go which the UN will share with the two leaders.
The special adviser referred to the “mutual convergences” in some areas that have been discussed recently in the talks, describing the discussions as “quite promising”.
Responding to questions, Downer clarified that the UN has yet to finalise the content of the tripartite meeting between Ban and the two leaders on July 7.
“It’s a month away. We still need to see where the leaders get to in terms of their discussion of the issues which are currently before them, but also to talk to the two sides and have a really good understanding of their thinking on how the meeting could work, and in the end, of course, talk with the Secretary-General about what we’d like to do,” he said.
Both sides have to feel comfortable with the way forward, said Downer, adding: “We don’t want to make either side feel uncomfortable, but on the other hand we need a way forward otherwise these negotiations will go on for a hundred years.”
The UN diplomat said everybody was aware of the issues on the table after almost three years of negotiations. “There are no secrets under the sun here,” he said.
Asked whether Ban planned to announce the convening of an international conference after the meeting, Downer said the UN team had yet to conclude what recommendations they would make to the SG, noting however, that he would make up his own mind on how to handle the meeting.
The Australian diplomat pointed out that the Greek Cypriot position on an international conference was very clear, that the internal issues of a settlement had to be largely dealt with before it could be held.
“I don’t think the international conference is going to happen very soon but it is generally accepted that there are international issues that need to be dealt with in an international conference,” he said.
He added that the Turkish Cypriot side had “a more expansive vision” on the same issue, a possible reference to Eroglu’s insistence on the need for a four or five-party conference to take place as soon as possible.
Christofias has also made it clear that until he knows how many Turkish settlers will leave the island post-solution and how much territory will come under the Greek Cypriot constituent state, he cannot reach agreement on the property chapter. Failure to do so raises further doubts as to the timing of an international conference.
Downer also met with Eroglu yesterday afternoon. No comments were made after the meeting
