The working group established by the Conference on Cyprus which convened in Geneva last week, wrapped up its first day on Wednesday night in Mont Pelerin where security and guarantees were on the table.
But as they met to pave the way towards a new high-level political meeting, ostensibly by the end of the month, Greece and Turkey – two of the guarantor powers – continued throwing barbs in the political arena.
Ankara talked of ‘taking Cyprus with blood’ and that was the only way it could be taken from them, while Athens urged Turkey to drop the “aggressive rhetoric”.
The working group, which hopes to accomplish a basis for negotiations before the politicians return to the scene, comprises experts from the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot side, the three guarantor powers – Greece, UK and Turkey – and the EU.
The experts will meet again on Thursday at 9am local time, while talks, chaired by UN Secretary General’s Special Representative in Cyprus Elisabeth Spehar, are expected to last until Friday. Special Adviser Espen Barth Eide, who is currently in Davos, may join them.
According to government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides, discussions during the first day focused on identifying questions as regards the issue under discussion that need to be addressed.
“We expect that through the discussion and the answers given on very specific questions concerning security and guarantees, a working document would be produced to allow the continuation of the conference on Cyprus at a political level and for positive prospects for a settlement,” Christodoulides said.
He added that the government would make official statements after the end of the working group’s discussions. “The aim is a conference at political level, where decisions will be taken,” Christodoulides said. He added that the Republic is in full coordination with Greece.
While the working group is underway, President Nicos Anastasiades continues diplomatic efforts to garner support as regards the talks.
On Wednesday, the president informed in a telephone conversation the outgoing US Vice President Joe Biden on the latest developments and thanked him for his constant interest. Biden reassured the president he will continue to follow developments and did not rule out his involvement in the future.
On Thursday Anastasiades is to receive the Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos who will arrive on the island to address an event held by the Church of Cyprus to mark the 40th anniversary of the death of the Republic’s first president, Archbishop Makarios.
The president will also address the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg next Tuesday, while he will also attend the southern European summit in Portugal where he is to hold a number of meetings.
Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci on Wednesday, speaking to a Turkish TV station, reiterated that there could be no solution without Turkey’s guarantees. Akinci also said the map the Greek Cypriot side submitted in Geneva would not be accepted by a single Turkish Cypriot and as regards rotating presidency, the only acceptable proposal was two terms for Greek Cypriots and one term for Turkish Cypriots.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s top advisor Yigit Bulut said in another TV programme that Turkey took Cyprus with blood and would only surrender it the same way.
“We retook Cyprus by showering its soil with martyrs’ blood. If the EU, England and Germany want to take it, they should be ready to pay the same price,” Bulut said.
Reacting to Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci’s remarks that the Turkish Cypriots can help Turkey to enter the EU after a solution, Bulut said that Turkey does not need the help of the EU or anyone else. He claimed that Cyprus was a land of the Turks and would stay that way.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Wednesday that progress had been made in ending the decades-old stalemate, but urged Turkey to drop ‘aggressive rhetoric’ to reach a deal.
“We are optimistic but with prudence and responsibility, as this situation merits, we will continue to work hard…and hope that we have positive results in the near future,” Tsipras said in a speech in the Greek parliament.
“A precondition to that is that the other side… particularly Turkey, come to negotiations in similar spirit, putting aside aggressive rhetoric, and work seriously and responsibly.”
Erdogan has accused Greece of “fleeing” efforts to reunite Cyprus and said Turkey will retain troops there forever.
At issue is a dispute primarily between the Turkish and the Greek sides on whether the system of guarantee should stay in place, allowing Greek and Turkish forces to remain stationed on the island, and the right of intervention in the event of a breakdown of constitutional order.
The Conference on Cyprus which convened on January 12 in Geneva, under the auspices of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, with the participation of Anastasiades and Akinci, the Foreign Ministers of Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom as guarantor powers and in the presence of the European Union as an observer, decided to establish a working group at the level of deputies with the task to identify specific questions and the instruments needed to address them.
Moreover, it decided that the Conference would continue on political level immediately thereafter to review the outcome of the working group’s discussions and that in parallel, the negotiations on outstanding issues in the other chapters will continue between the two sides in Cyprus. According to sources, the technocrats aim to come up with various alternative scenarios relating to security and guarantees, put the parties’ positions on paper and discuss in detail the concerns and approaches they have.
Diplomatic sources told the Cyprus News Agency that there would be no negotiation as such on the issues at hand; instead delegates would attempt to outline the questions raised by the UN on security and guarantees, which need to be addressed.
The issue of security, according to the same sources, is not limited to a military nature but concerns internal security, external security, Turkish occupation troops, the instruments of implementation of everything that might be agreed in a possible solution of the Cyprus problem as well as the concerns of the two sides.
The political decisions about future moves will be taken by those attending the Conference on Cyprus, possibly by the end of January.
The EU will be represented at the talks by its ambassador to Geneva and the special envoy of Commission President Pete van Nuffel, as observers/interested parties. They will be on site and will intervene as necessary.
The British Foreign Office will be represented by Jonathan Allen, Acting Director General, Defence and Intelligence, a post he took up in November 2016. Allen, who has served in Cyprus in the past, will be accompanied by legal experts and diplomats but not defence experts.
