Cyprus-Forum.com

[brother]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4453171.stm


So now we have a new leader but will Talat bring us to solution or will he be the next generation of Denktas and solve nothing.

[MicAtCyp]

No as long as he insists on changes to the Anan Plan. Any changes we ask he will ask for something else and we will end up to the same or even worse denominator

[Viewpoint]

If you have one negative and one positive what do you get division.

[uzan]

If you have one negative and one positive what do you get division.

If we have one negative and one positive, we will get PEACE by division.

[Viewpoint]

With all due respects Uzan but we already have peace what we need now is world recognition, but rest assured Papadop will help us with this issue.

[cannedmoose]

So now we have a new leader but will Talat bring us to solution or will he be the next generation of Denktas and solve nothing.

As I said in another thread on this... one obstinate, obstructionist down, one to go...

[brother]

Comments - What’s the point of this stream of abuse against Talat?
By Nicos Pittas


THE steady stream of anti-Talat comments from the government spokesman and others affiliated with the government, including the President himself, presumably aims to convince the public, and foreign observers, that Mehmet Ali Talat, like his predecessor Rauf Denktash, does not truly desire peace and re-unification of Cyprus on mutually acceptable terms. While this campaign of distortions and outright lies may have some legs at home, it will not convince anyone abroad with an ounce of knowledge of the Cyprus problem or any interest in promoting a settlement.

The differences between Mr Denktash the elder and Mr Talat are significant. There is no doubt that Mr Talat is prepared to negotiate a settlement on the basis of the Annan Plan, whereas Rauf Denktash will go to his grave convinced that the Annan Plan spells the death of his beloved ‘TRNC’, and his dream of its recognition as a sovereign state equal in all respects with the Republic of Cyprus.

Talat is clearly a federalist. Rauf Denktash, on the other hand, was only prepared to negotiate a confederate state relationship between the two sides. To conflate their positions within the political context of the Turkish Cypriot community is either malicious and indicative of bad faith, or downright stupid. I have never thought of Tassos Papadopoulos as stupid, so the only reasonable conclusion is that there is a conscious campaign to misrepresent Talat and his views.

If the government is sincere that it wants to engage in negotiations to solve the Cyprus problem based on the Annan plan, it has to do more than jockey for procedural advantages, salivate for a meeting with Mr Erdogan and use our EU membership to extract concessions from Turkey on the diplomatic front. At some point we have to admit that inter-communal differences lie at the roots of the Cyprus problem.

Yes, there are international dimensions. Yes, there can be no solution without the agreement of Turkey and its armed forces leadership. Of course, the Turkish Cypriot leadership is dependent on Ankara for its survival and has limited capacity to decide many issues independently of the will of Turkey. Nevertheless, the success of any future negotiations will depend in large measure on the good will of the chief interlocutor from the Turkish Cypriot community who almost certainly will be Mr Talat after today’s elections in the north.

While we engage in procedural preliminaries to establish a new context for negotiations under the aegis of the United Nations, our time would also be well spent establishing a climate of trust and good will between our respective representatives. The recent Christofias-Talat meeting was a useful step in the right direction, but a few steps by our President would not hurt either.

If our President cannot bring himself to talk informally to Mr Talat and develop a better relationship and mutual understanding of each others’ concerns, without prejudice to their respective negotiating positions, he and his spin doctors should at least show some respect for him as the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community, and the man with whom they will have to deal if there is to be a solution some time in the near future.

Of course, if you don’t really want a federal solution their tactics make perfect sense.

[brother]

This editorial hits the nail right on the head with why i keep saying tassos is not for unification but partition, wether he likes it or not this is our elected leader and he does want unification.

[Alexandros Lordos]

I also agree that Talat is "not to be confused for Denktash". Certainly Talat is willing to agree to some sort of Federation, the real question now is if the two sides can agree on a common vision for a federal Cyprus.

Talat will almost certainly focus, in negotiations, on safeguards to political equality, on bizonality, and on the maintenance of Turkish Guarantees. The last one in particular will be difficult even for moderate GCs to stomach, while the political equality issue is likely to clash head-on with Tassos' concerns about administrative functionality and efficient decision making ...

So, even though I believe that Talat will indeed enter negotiations in a spirit of good will, finding a compromise will still be difficult given the inherent differences between the underlying GC solution thesis and the underlying TC solution thesis ...

It all depends on how willing our two leaders are, to really listen and understand each other's concerns. If each side just regurgitates its own concerns, then deadlock is a certainty. If both sit down and together think of creative solutions, then something good might come out of all this ...

(Hey Cannedmoose, I like your avatar ... )

[cannedmoose]

It all depends on how willing our two leaders are, to really listen and understand each other's concerns. If each side just regurgitates its own concerns, then deadlock is a certainty. If both sit down and together think of creative solutions, then something good might come out of all this ...

Alexandros, once again hitting the nail on the head... From statements made by TPap so far, it seems that regurgitation rather than accommodation is the rule of the game right now. Whether there are communications through private channels, I don't know, but I would imagine it would be political suicide if these came out in public and were contrary to the official line.

You would have thought, with obstructionist Rauf out of the official picture that this was the time for real progress to be made. It's just a shame that things seem to be reverting back to the old pattern of mutual distrust and non-engagement.

Maybe it's time for Talat to call TPap's bluff and invite him for meetings at Ledra Palace to discuss the way forward, under the auspices of both the UN and the EU (if a request from Talat, backed up by Erdogan for the EU to take part in such talks was forthcoming, I'm sure it would make it difficult for Tassos to refuse).

It's just a real shame that a possible chink of light like this will probably be allowed to fade away because of obstinacy. I agree that the Annan Plan can no longer be the sole basis for discussion, but I don't see much discussion taking place between the two sides as to the way forward. Talking to each other does not imply recognition, so what's the problem of sitting down and working this out? Alexandre, it's about time you entered the world of politics...

(Hey Cannedmoose, I like your avatar ... )

Thanks re... how about this one for you?