By Jean Christou
IT’S BEEN a hell of a week in Cyprus politics. After three years of nothing except moaning and griping across the buffer zone, two major stumbling blocks to progress have vanished almost overnight.
Of course these are just the tip of the iceberg and the bigger and more thorny issues lie ahead. But the major lesson of the past week has been that the two sides can make progress if they want to.
The developments have exposed the previous government of Tassos Papadopoulos as the intransigent party, at least when it came to the setting up of technical committees and working groups, because in the meantime nothing has changed on the Turkish Cypriot side.
During the previous government, for 18 long months, aides to the two leaders couldn’t even agree on the names of the committees. Yet in two meetings during this week, new Presidential Commissioner George Iacovou and Ozdil Nami, the adviser to Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, with a little give and take, managed to do what the previous aides could not do in 50.
The other development, again with a three-year history of so-called negotiations, was the decision finally to open the Ledra Street crossing. It may be unfair entirely to blame Papadopoulos for this delay since three’s little doubt the Turkish army engaged in its own shenanigans over the issue in recent years.
In fact, there was a slight hitch last Monday when the Turkish side balked again, but President Demetris Christofias clearly decided not to make an issue out of it. The restraint paid off and work started the next day.
So when UN Under-Secretary-General Lynn Pascoe arrives on the island today with his team to evaluate whether there is enough good will for the Secretary-General to launch negotiations, he may find himself drowning in it.
“The assessment is about whether the UN finds enough political will to advance, and now it does,” said a source close to the process.
“This is the UN’s simple analysis. This is the political will the UN has been calling for for so long and now they have it.”
A western diplomat, asked whether there was any concern that a bit of a show was being played out for Pascoe’s benefit, replied: “It would be silly to put on a show for Pascoe. Everyone is aware that it was necessary to be convinced there was genuine will for a solution. They wouldn’t have needed to move so fast just to create a good impression,” said the diplomat.
He said the international community really believed that this time there could be a settlement, and he pointed to the hitch over Ledra Street, which was resolved “without finger pointing or the blame game”.
“The problem was overcome and things moved on,” said the diplomat.
“This is very telling,” he added.
“In the past, they would have blamed each other. It shows both sides are committed to finding a solution as soon as possible. There is no foot-dragging.”
One Greek Cypriot political analyst said the week’s developments showed that both sides were keen to advance. “What matters most is good will. If you have this, you can overcome the problems,” he said.
The analyst said Christofias’ policies were streets ahead compared to those of the past, and the rapid developments had made it self-evident where the earlier blame lay.
“If one is keen, there is always a way. If you are not keen there are a thousand excuses you can find not to move forward,” he said hinting at the failure of the Papadopoulos years.
The diplomat, however, refrained from blaming Papadopoulos entirely for recent failures.
“It was not just him. It’s about personalities and trust. The fact is we now have leaders who know each other from the past and they have good chemistry. Their two advisers have clicked as well. In something as complex and sensitive as the Cyprus issue, relationships can often be the key,” he added.
He did warn, however, that there were going to be a lot more setbacks and crises “along the way”.
“Ledra was the first of many hiccups that will have to be dealt with, so they will need to maintain the momentum,” the diplomat added.
According to former Cyprus envoy Alvaro de Soto, writing in the International Herald Tribune on Friday: “The history of attempts to overcome the division of Cyprus can be measured out in false dawns.”
He said one or the other leader “could always be relied on to stand athwart the effort and yell ‘no!’ Support from either Ankara or Athens would go missing.”
De Soto asked why the international community should be excited this time around, and answers: “No one had to force Christofias to the meeting last Friday. His commitment to seek a solution was always in contrast to the ardent resistance of his former coalition partner and predecessor, Tassos Papadopoulos,” wrote de Soto. “Christofias is a seasoned player… he and Talat, ideological brethren, will both have to be statesmanlike and think in terms of the whole island and all of its inhabitants – not through a sectarian prism. Perhaps Talat and Christofias can persuade their people to think of themselves as Cypriots as opposed to merely Greek or Turkish Cypriots.”
Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2008
UN STILL IN THERE BROTHERS>>>>>>>>>>>
