THE TWO leaders will be expected to discuss all chapters in the talks when they meet the UN chief in Geneva in a fortnight, despite time lost due to Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu’s poor health, said UN Special Adviser Alexander Downer yesterday.
The Australian diplomat met with Eroglu and President Demetris Christofias yesterday ahead of tomorrow’s meeting between the two leaders, the first since Eroglu underwent open heart surgery in Ankara on December 19.
Speaking outside the presidential palace, Downer said the meeting in Geneva with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will go ahead as planned, even though the two leaders did not get the chance to meet as frequently as planned due to Eroglu’s heart condition.
When they met Ban in New York last November, the understanding was that they would report back to him in January with an overview of their positions on all six chapters in the negotiations, including the tricky ones on territory, security and property and also suggest a mechanism for overcoming their differences on those topics.
The two leaders have only two meetings left before they meet with Ban on January 26. However, Downer insisted yesterday that the UN was sticking to its schedule, noting that Eroglu appeared in “good shape” and was recovering speedily.
While the leaders may not have met as often, he highlighted that their respective aides, Georgios Iacovou and Kudret Ozersay, did meet in recent weeks and have been making “steady progress” on three chapters in particular, governance and power sharing, the economy and the EU. A significant amount of progress had been on these chapters during Mehmet Ali Talat’s tenure as Turkish Cypriot leader. The concern in the past was that the traditionally hard-line Eroglu would seek to reverse that progress.
The UN official said both sides were “working hard and negotiating seriously to move things forward”, noting that both took “a pretty constructive approach” to the meetings.
According to Downer, the two sides have been submitting proposals and “building bridges” within a “positive atmosphere”. He acknowledged that the two sides were not able to touch upon the three remaining topics, property, territory and security. Christofias has long argued progress cannot be made on property unless it is examined in connection with territory, something which Eroglu has so far resisted.
Downer highlighted in no uncertain terms that Ban intended on talking about “all of the chapters, not some of the chapters, so that includes territory of course”.
Ultimately, the two leaders had to reach agreement “across the board on all issues” which includes territorial adjustments and security, he added.
Meanwhile, opposition leader Nicos Anastassiades launched another assault on Christofias’ policy in the talks.
“How much can the Cypriot-led dialogue contribute?” he asked, noting that Christofias wants to have dinner with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on the Bosphorus yet refuses to bring him to the negotiating table.
He called on Christofias to get Greece, Turkey and the EU more involved in the peace talks.
“Why do we refuse to involve the EU? Why do we keep the EU at a distance? Why do we keep the guilty party, Turkey, which holds the key to a solution, at a distance and expect that together with the Turkish Cypriot leader we’ll find a solution?”
He warned that Turkey was moving consistently towards the “Taiwanisation” of the north. While Greek Cypriots should not accept any “unacceptable” demands Turkey makes, “we must realise that the coming year, essentially the next few months, will be truly decisive for the course of our national issue,” he said.
Foreign Minister Marcos Kyprianou responded to the accusations saying that it was not the Greek Cypriots that kept the EU at a distance, but Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots.
