PROXIMITY TALKS for the settlement of the Cyprus problem could start as soon as tomorrow after both sides last night handed their replies to the United Nations outlining the points they wished to change in the solution plan.
The Greek Cypriot side handed over its reply to UN envoy Alvaro de Soto’s representative at around 9pm and after it had been confirmed in writing that the Turkish Cypriot side had given its reply to a UN representative in New York.
The Greek Cypriot side had given its reply late on Wednesday night but asked for it back yesterday morning after they discovered the Turkish Cypriot side had failed to honour its side of the deal to submit the replies simultaneously.
The Turkish Cypriot side later apologised and blamed the delay on technical problems.
The Turkish Cypriot response, a three-page document accompanied by a letter, was handed to the UN at 6.30pm (Cyprus time) by the representative of the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state Osman Ertug.
Asked whether the reply was positive, Ertug said “We have already given our positive reply”.
“The UN Secretary-general did not want us to say yes or no; he was asking the two sides to say what they thought should be amended on his document.
“And this is exactly what we have done,” Ertug added.
But according to reports, Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, in his reply, did not include any suggestions, as the UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan had asked, but only listed the points he wished to see changed.
Undersecretary to the president Pantelis Kouros, who handed over the reply to de Soto said he imagined the UN would now study the replies and then give each side the other side’s positions.
Kouros added that he had asked the UN for written assurances that the Turkish Cypriot side had given its reply, which he got in the form of a letter from de Soto.
Government Spokesman Michalis Papapetrou told the Cyprus Mail last night that in its reply the Greek Cypriot side in some cases listed the points while in others it made suggestions on how they should be changed.
“We had to decide whether we wanted to respond to the letter or not,” Papapetrou said.
He added: “If Denktash gave only the points it means he did not respond.”
This development opened the way for the UN to push for negotiations on the plan as early as Saturday, reports said.
The same reports said that the UN would be engaging the two sides in intensive rounds of proximity talks in order to have some form of agreement before the Copenhagen summit on December 12.
But UN hopes to kick off talks could be dashed if Denktash fails to return today.
The Turkish Cypriot leader is scheduled to be examined in hospital at around 5.30pm after which, if all goes well, he would board a direct flight to Cyprus.
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.
