UN hopeful of Cyprus deal by year end

Agreement on Cyprus could be possible by year end says Downer

THE UNITED Nations special envoy for Cyprus, Alexander Downer, expressed hope yesterday that a deal could be brokered by the end of the year to solve the Cyprus problem.

Downer, a former Australian foreign minister who took over as Cyprus special envoy in 2008, said he was convinced the two leaders – President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu – wanted a deal, but that compromise was required from both sides.

“It would be good to get the bulk of the work done by the end of the year,” Downer told Reuters in an interview. “Just in terms of the negotiations they can do it, whether they will I don’t know. But they can do it.”

Downer, who oversees meetings between Christofias and Eroglu, has in the past avoided statements on when talks could conclude.

While saying he hoped most work would be concluded this year, he said the UN had never laid out a specific timetable for the conclusion of the talks.

“It’s definitely doable. It’s not beyond the wit of man to solve the Cyprus problem,” said Downer.

Discussions on relinking Cyprus as a federation is a convoluted muddle involving questions of power-sharing, the re-mapping of boundaries and how many refugees can return to their homes.

Downer said good progress had been made on governance and power-sharing. Discussions were now focused on property. The UN is planning to prepare a report offering a “frank assessment” of where negotiations stand next month.

“If they can reach basic convergences on the property chapter that would be an enormous step forward,” he said.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.