By Elias Hazou
OPPOSITION parties were none too impressed with the UN Special Adviser’s clarifications, some calling for Espen Barth Eide’s immediate dismissal.
Late on Wednesday, the UN official issued a statement seeking to mend remarks he made in an interview with the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) earlier in the day.
Eide said he was merely referencing the two competing narratives on the Cyprus problem.
He also stressed that he never intended to downplay or question Cyprus’ sovereign rights in its Exclusive Economic Zone – a fractious issue amid the standoff between Nicosia and Ankara over hydrocarbons exploration in the seas around the island.
In his original remarks, the Norwegian diplomat had said that exclusive economic zones were not sovereign. And referring to the substance of the Cyprus problem, he pointed out there are two schools of thought: “Is it a hijacked state, or part of the country is occupied?”
These prompted an angry reaction by the government and a demarche to Eide.
Though the UN envoy subsequently did not retract, he tried to patch up the ensuing controversy by saying his statements were misrepresented.
Main opposition AKEL, who along with ruling DISY are seen as more pro-solution than other parties, seemed satisfied.
In a statement on Thursday, the communist party said Eide’s follow-up statement was “in the right direction.”
“The question, of course, is that Mr. Eide does not repeat such interventions.”
Socialists EDEK were less forgiving: “Not only are Mr. Eide’s clarifications on his unacceptable and anti-Cypriot comments… cheap excuses, but more than that, they confirm his faux pas.
“It is not the first time that he violates his terms of reference. We have seen this movie many times before, and we cannot tolerate that during the peace talks, Mr. Eide will be tabling ‘bridging proposals’.”
If the President wants to safeguard the dignity of the Republic of Cyprus, he ought to immediately ask for Eide’s dismissal, EDEK added.
Likewise, the Citizens Alliance – with one seat in parliament – said there are no ifs and buts, and that Eide must go.
The UN envoy was clearly adopting the Turkish views, leaving the Greek Cypriots with a stark choice: accept partition or else a settlement on Turkey’s terms.
The party said Eide can no longer be trusted.
If he was not removed, the Greek Cypriot side would become trapped in a negotiations process with irreversible consequences, the Citizens Alliance warned.
Meanwhile, the breakaway regime’s ‘foreign minister’ said on Thursday that he expected the peace talks to restart by the second week of May, following the ‘presidential elections’ in the north on April 19.
The talks would resume from where they left off last October, Ozdil Nami told Anadolu news agency.
According to Nami, it has been 50 years since the creation of the Cyprus problem, and within the UN Security Council there is today a mindset that says ‘enough’.
The Turkish Cypriot side also said on Thursday that they have submitted to the UN a road map for the talks.
The road map provides for negotiations to be completed by the end of July, followed by a multilateral conference in early September, and referenda by the end of the year.
The revelations were made by Turkish Cypriot negotiator Ergün Olgun during a televised programme in the north.
