THE TWO leaders may hold a fresh round of intensified talks early next month as both sides aim to prove their commitment to a solution ahead of the UN Secretary-General’s progress report this November.
According to well-placed sources, President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu are considering holding a series of intensified all-day talks on the property chapter before Christofias heads off to New York to attend the UN General Assembly (UNGA).
The two are expected to agree to the format of the intensified talks at their next meeting on August 31. Their representatives, Georgios Iacovou and Kudret Ozersay, will meet a day earlier. Given that Christofias will most probably be in New York by September 20, if not earlier, the two leaders may agree to three or four all-day talks between September 6 and 10.
Intensified talks last took place in January over a three week period when Christofias and former Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat met three days a week in two separate weeks at the UN Chief of Mission’s house in the UN-controlled Nicosia airport.
One diplomat noted the significant progress made during those all-day talks on governance and power-sharing in early 2010. If the two sides can “break the back” of the property chapter during a new round of intensified talks, a first for these two leaders, that would be a big step forward in the two-year-old process, he noted.
Property has always been a major sticking point for Cyprus problem negotiations. The current round is no different, with both sides so far digging in their heels. Christofias argues that the Turkish Cypriot side must conform to international law and let the lawful owners of property decide whether they want to have the property returned or exchanged or receive compensation.
He’s also pushing for the property issue to be discussed in tandem with that of territory and settlers, arguing that the matter has to be viewed in its entirety if serious decisions are to be taken.
Eroglu, on the other hand, has so far refused to mix the chapters. On property, he points to the European Court of Human Rights’ (ECHR) latest decision on the Immovable Property Commission (IPC), which recognised the IPC as a Turkish-controlled local legal remedy for displaced people. It also tacitly acknowledged that current occupiers of property gain certain rights over time.
According to Turkish Cypriot press, Ozersay has been touring Scandinavian countries this past week arguing in favour of a property solution based on the IPC model, which he said was developed with the guidance of the ECHR and therefore in line with European standards of human rights.
Now that the positions of both sides on property are perfectly clear, the next step in the negotiations will prove crucial to the future of the talks. With UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s November progress report weighing heavily in their minds, both sides are expected to submit their proposals on property when negotiations resume. This may be done within the intensified talks format.
However they choose to meet, both Christofias and Eroglu will be keen not to show any signs of intransigence as UN special envoy Alexander Downer prepares his report for Ban, who will meet Christofias briefly during the UNGA, and possibly Eroglu after.
Downer has made it clear the report will give a straight and clear account of where the talks stand, warts and all. Speculation is rife that depending on progress made, he may suggest the withdrawal of the UN Good Offices, a suspension of the talks, their intensification or the holding of an international conference.
Other factors likely to influence decision-making is the EU’s end of year progress report on Turkish accession and the Direct Trade Regulation (DTR) currently sitting in the European Parliament.
DISY MEP Ioannis Kasoulides said yesterday that the Parliament’s Legal Committee is scheduled to discuss the regulation on September 2. Speaking from New York, Turkey’s EU Affairs Minister Egemen Bagis called on the EU to help put pressure on the Greek Cypriots for the talks to progress. The course of this direct trade regulation is likely to have a direct impact on the “mood” of the talks.
