The hope is that through the dialogue starting on Wednesday the kinds of proposals that will allow us to overcome one of the key problems we are facing will be tabled, President Nicos Anastasiades said on Tuesday.
He was referring to the technocrat-level talks between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities, as well as Cyprus’ three guarantor powers – Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom – and the European Union, which are mandated with laying the groundwork for the resumption of political-level talks over security and guarantee arrangements in the context of a settlement of the Cyprus problem.
Speaking on the sidelines of the In Business awards ceremony, Anastasiades was asked whether he is optimistic ahead of Wednesday’s talks.
“It is not a matter of optimism, it is a matter of resolve,” he said.
“Having said that, it will be up to Turkey’s political will. I want to believe that, through this dialogue, those kinds of proposals that will allow us to overcome one of the key problems we are facing will be tabled.”
Asked whether the Greek Cypriot side is fully prepared for the Mont Pelerin, Switzerland sessions, the president said “we are fully prepared, and in full coordination with the Greek government, with whom we have daily contact”.
Anastasiades defended his strategy of engaging in talks with Turkey and offered assurances that no concessions on substance are being made.
“It is through our decisions and initiatives that we have finally managed, after 43 years, or even from 1964, to sit at the same table as Turkey and, for the first time, talk about abolishing guarantees and ridding us of the Turkish army,” he said.
“I want to make one thing clear. Decisions on procedure are one thing, and matters of principle that must be adhered to at negotiations are quite another. I would like assure everyone that they need not worry about the issues of principle.”
Different opinions are everyone’s right in a democracy, Anastasiades added, and called for a truce.
“At this crucial time, let there be a truce, and let us unite behind the common goal of ridding our country of Turkey’s occupation, reunite it, and create the conditions for peaceful coexistence with our compatriots,” he said.
“Some say that the Republic of Cyprus is at risk. The only risk it is at is the occupation, not its engaging in dialogue, and certainly not by participating in international gatherings that relate or touch on a solution to the Cyprus problem.”
According to the Cyprus News Agency, chief negotiator Andreas Mavroyiannis will be accompanied by negotiating team member Toumazos Tselepis, lieutenant colonel Neophytos Pachoulidis, who serves at Cyprus’ permanent mission to the EU, academic Aris Constantinides, diplomat Pantelis Pantelides and diplomats serving at the negotiator’s office.
The Turkish Cypriot delegation consists of negotiator Özdil Nami, Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akıncı’s special advisor on Diplomacy and EU Erhan Erçin, legal advisor Sülen Karabacak, foreign affairs expert İpek Borman Genç and member of the negotiating team Sertaç Güven.
An international conference on Cyprus last week decided to set up a working group to hammer out security arrangements for a post-settlement.
Cyprus will meet for two to three days only, followed by another round of high-level talks, a source close to the Turkish Cypriot side said on Sunday.
The working group made of technocrats from the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities and guarantor powers Britain, Greece, and Turkey, is scheduled to meet at the Swiss resort of Mont Pelerin.
“The general agreement is that (working group session) should not take place for more than two or three days,” a source told Reuters, requesting anonymity because of the sensitivity of present discussions.
This would be followed by a new summit of politicians, possibly at a ‘higher level’ than the foreign ministers who met in Geneva last week, the source said.
Government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides told state broadcaster CyBC that the working group will focus on issues concerning internal and external security, the concerns of each side, and the application of a solution.
The Greek and Greek Cypriot delegations, he said, will focus on the proposals submitted by president Anastasiades on security, and on that by Greek Foreign Minister Nicos Kotzias, on a friendship agreement.
