Greek, Turkish Cypriot leaders to accelerate talks
Greek, Turkish Cypriot leaders to accelerate talks
by Petros Petrides
NICOSIA, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) — Leaders of the Greek and Turkish communities in Cyprus are speeding up their 16-month long negotiations in a bid to reach a settlement by next March.
Cypriot President and Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias have agreed with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat to accelerate the talks before the Turkish occupied part of Cyprus elects a new leader in April 2010.
A source closely involved in the negotiations confirmed to Xinhua that arrangements had already been agreed upon, and members of the negotiating teams were expected to hold day-long sessions in January.
“The aim is to proceed as fast as possible and reach a solution before next April or at least lay down the draft outline of a settlement,” said the source.
Although both sides of the talks have previously agreed not to set a timeline for hammering out a solution for a federated Cyprus, they are growing more and more aware of the significance of the April 2010 elections as a new Turkish Cypriot leader may not support a solution on the agreed lines of a bizonal, bicommunal federated state.
Dervis Eroglu, who might become the new Turkish Cypriot leader, has made no secret of his opposition to such a solution.
Cyprus has been divided since the Turkish military intervened and occupied the island’s north following a coup by a group of Greek officers in 1974. The Cyprus issue is hampering Turkey’s bid to join the European Union (EU), of which Cyprus, represented by Greek Cypriots, has become a member.
The emergence of a more nationalist Turkish Cypriot leadership would complicate and even undermine Ankara’s campaign toward the EU.
Christofias feared that prospects for a solution would diminish once a hawkish Turkish Cypriot leader replaces Talat as chief negotiator, while Talat also said the elections might be “detrimental.”
Both sides are now anxious to agree on an even broader outline of a solution by April 2010. In their previous talks, the two sides have reached agreement on such areas as the form of government and power sharing between the two communities, relations with the EU, and the economy while their views differed widely on the issues of properties, the abrogation of international guarantees and security arrangements in force since Cyprus’ independence in 1960.
After about 55 sessions since the community leaders started their negotiations in September 2008, Talat has repeatedly called upon the UN and influential countries, such as Britain, the formercolonial power in Cyprus, to get involved in the process and help iron out details of a settlement.
Britain stepped in recently with a repeat of an old offer to hand back almost half of the territory of two military bases it has retained in Cyprus, totalling 98 square miles (254 square kilometers), to facilitate agreement on the extent of territory each community would exercise control upon.
However, more extensive foreign involvement, especially in the form of arbitration, is out of the question for the Greek Cypriot side, after the so-called Annan plan — a solution proposal for the issue, named after former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan who acted as an arbitrator — was rejected in a 2004 referendum by almost 76 percent of the Greek Cypriot voters as one-sided and divisive.
Christofias has been repeating on every occasion that neither outside arbitration nor a tight time frame would be acceptable.
But Christofias said recently that the Cyprus government was starting a campaign to inform the general public what a federal solution involves, an indication that the issue was inching toward a settlement.
Editor: Han Jingjing
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on Dec 12 2009. Filed under World.
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