By Athena Karsera
POLITICAL parties in Cyprus were mixed in their reactions yesterday to President Clerides’ acceptance of the UN secretary-general’s invitation to Cyprus talks in New York, but the tone ranged from negative to uncertain.
Speaking in his role as Diko leader, current acting president Spyros Kyprianou said the offer had been “unacceptable,” accusing UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan of changing the invitation’s format.
“The first thing I want to say is that after the Secretary-General’s statement on the invitations, he referred to the President of the Republic as the President. Denktash complained and the Secretary-general immediately removed the ‘President’ and Denktash agreed to the talks.”
Kyprianou said he believed Denktash had implied that a prior agreement on the format of talks had been reached before the invitations were sent: “I also find it unacceptable that Denktash spoke about some agreement on the New York meetings. He said if the UN adopted the procedure that they agreed on, he would go.”
In a statement, the largest opposition party Akel condemned the latest developments: “Instead of negotiations in the framework of the UN and based on the Security Council’s Resolutions and Summit decisions, we have become the martyrs of artificial scenarios that will bring about an artificial progress that in turn will be used to assist Turkey’s passage into the EU.”
Edek’s members, meanwhile, seemed divided in their opinions on the issue yesterday.
Speaking after a party meeting yesterday, party president Vassos Lyssarides said the party had no choice but to support Clerides’ decision at this stage.
However, Edek’s first vice-president Yiannakis Omirou, speaking from Paphos yesterday, said Clerides’ acceptance had been a “diplomatic and political defeat.”
Lyssarides said his party could not advise Clerides not to take part in the talks due to the prevailing political climate.
Lyssarides did, however, note that the government should make it clear it would not give in to Denktash’s demands and that the Cypriot delegation would leave the table if these demands were raised.
He said Edek would help provide the united front Clerides hoped for as long as Denktash’s unacceptable demands were not discussed.
But former defence minister Omirou said Cyprus had “pulled the rug out from under its own feet” by accepting the invite.
He said Clerides had committed himself to the National Council not to accept an invitation to talks based on Denktash’s demands and that direct talks were the only acceptable way forward.
Omirou said the invitations seemed to have been sent after intervention by US president Bill Clinton and that this had made the situation worse.
He said Denktash’s acceptance had come just before the EU summit in Helsinki and that Clinton’s intervention was intended to spare him from having to take action on Cyprus during his meetings in Ankara and Athens this week.
“In this way the possibility of reaching any decision in Helsinki that would help Cyprus’ EU accession is reduced to zero. The same goes for the EU’s obligation to help solve the Cyprus problem by drawing up a time-table… and for Turkey to have to take specific measures to ensure its passage into the EU.”
Omirou said that the move would also force Cyprus to support Turkey’s accession if nothing other than as a sign of good will.
Disy deputy Prodromos Prodromou seemed to share this opinion yesterday, saying the issue could be seen as a quick fix in Turkey’s favour.
Prodromou, however, conceded the invitation was not one that could be rebuffed.
He said this was because of the way the Cyprus problem had been handled lately. “When I say that we could not have given the correct answer (a refusal), I refer to the environment we are in. Greece should have already said it would veto Turkey’s recognition as a candidate country, the President should have told Annan he would not come to talks structured differently to the ones agreed on by the UN.”
“We do not now have the luxury of risking this stance,” he added.
New Horizon’s party condemned Clerides’ acceptance of the invitations and called on Clerides to return to Cyprus as soon as possible.
In a statement released yesterday, New Horizons president Nicos Koutsou said Clerides had “accepted the worst scenario under the worst conditions at the most dangerous and critical point of Turkey’s (EU) candidacy.”
Meanwhile, statements on the invitations were yesterday made by Greek Foreign Minister, George Papandreou and Greek government spokesman Demetris Reppas.
But speaking in Athens yesterday, Greek government spokesman Demetris Reppas cautioned Cypriot parties from seeking to score points on the issue, saying they should refrain from turning it into a political battlefield.
