THE MAJOR question for the third round of negotiations in New York next month is "whether or not the Turkish Cypriot side is willing to negotiate," President Clerides said yesterday.
Clerides, who is currently on a visit to the United States, said the Greek Cypriot side was not concerned whether the third round would be direct or indirect but whether the Turkish Cypriot side would have the will to make progress.
He warned that all those involved in the Cyprus negotiations should ask themselves what would happen if Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash continued to insist on the creation of two separate states, as he has done in the previous two rounds.
"We have no new evidence on what stance the Turkish side will maintain during the next round of talks," he told journalists on his arrival in New York.
"Until now, the stance they maintained was one of preconditions to start some dialogue, then that they wouldn’t negotiate unless their position on the so-called creation of two states in Cyprus was accepted".
The third round of UN-led proximity talks is due to begin on May 23. "What’s important is whether the other side is ready to negotiate," Clerides said.
Asked by journalists what would happen to the talks if the Turkish side had not changed its stance since the May round, Clerides said: "I am not the one to think what should happen; that will fall to Europe, the US and the others who are pursuing a solution."
Envoys from the US, the UN and the UK are expected to visit the island ahead of next month’s talks. All have agreed that a gear change is necessary to move the process forward.
All three envoys met in New York on Monday to discuss strategy leading to the third round.
British sources told the Cyprus News Agency in New York that the three envoys had compared notes on their recent visits to the island following the second round of talks in Geneva in early February.
"They want to see a change of gear during the next round," the sources said. ‘There has to be an acceleration of the process."
The sources said there were all sorts of issues to cover to try and overcome the obstacles and that the three sides would try to be as useful and as constructive as possible.
"It is less a matter of putting forward concrete suggestion than of keeping practical ideas. The two sides on the island will have to look as flexibly as possible at the proposals put forward and which are under discussion."
