THE government was yesterday cryptic about the ongoing talks in New York, reiterating simply that they revolved around the procedures, as well as the substance, for a possible new initiative on Cyprus.
At around noon yesterday, Tasos Tzionis, the director of the President’s Diplomatic Office, met with UN Undersecretary for Political Affairs Kieran Prendergast. No announcements were made immediately after the meeting, fuelling speculation about what was discussed.
According to the government’s official line, Tzionis’ task was to set out the positions of the Greek Cypriot side with regard to what procedures could be followed if talks were to resume.
President Tassos Papadopoulos has repeatedly said that that there should be no conditions, restrictions or other predetermined issues during any new round of Cyprus talks. “No talks will start if there are not the prerequisites for success,” he said.
The exploratory talks in the US capital are the first official contacts with the UN in over a year; UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan indicated he would not sponsor a new initiative unless the Greek Cypriot side spelled out what changes it wanted to the peace blueprint rejected in last April’s referendum.
But during an impromptu meeting between President Tassos Papadopoulos and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan in Moscow earlier this month, the Secretary-general appeared to have relented, setting the stage for Tzionis’ mission to New York.
Despite a barrage of questions from journalists, Government Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides would not divulge any details about the discussions, citing confidentiality reasons.
Chrysostomides even declined to answer a question as to whether the Foreign Ministry was being kept updated on the talks.
“When the deliberations are over, I’m sure that whoever needs to be informed, will be informed,” he offered.
He would neither confirm nor deny whether Prendergast would be visiting the island later in the month for a new round of consultations, saying this depended on progress in the ongoing talks.
Media reports said yesterday’s meeting between the President’s envoy and Prendergast was the last of this round of exploratory talks.
However, asked whether Tzionis was empowered to make any decisions while in New York, Chrysostomides noted: “I don’t think that decision-making is part of this process.”
He was also evasive on whether a comment by a US State Department spokesman implied the US government was not investing a great deal in the exploratory talks. The spokesman had expressed the hope that Greek Cypriots would clear up their concerns in relation to the Annan plan.
“I wouldn’t want to give any spin on that statement,” said Chrysostomides.
The talks coincided with Greek premier Constantinos Karamanlis’ visit to the United States; the Greek leader met last night with US President George W Bush. The agenda of the meeting, attended by the two countries’ foreign ministers, revolved around Cyprus, Greek-Turkish and EU-Turkish relations.
Diplomats said that the high-level contacts, though important, were mainly aimed at affirming the good state of relations between the United States and Greece.
