Cyprus-Forum.com

[halil]

Remarks by Special Adviser of the Secretary-General Alexander Downer following the 13 November Meeting

Ladies and gentlemen, as is custom the leaders have asked me to say a few words to you. They had a discussion today predominantly about the judiciary and they made good progress on this issue. The leaders will be meeting again on Monday afternoon at 4 o’ clock here. At the meeting on Monday afternoon they will be discussing deadlock-resolving mechanisms. In the meantime, their representatives and officials will be meeting here tomorrow morning for further discussions about a range of different issues that the leaders have referred to them. That is about all I have to say. If you have any questions, I will be happy to answer them.

Question: Mr. Downer, you promised us on Tuesday that you would say something about the process, whether they would close one issue, completely resolve one issue and move onto another, how they would do it. Could you please elaborate on that?

Answer: Sure. What they have been doing, as you know, is going through the process of governance and power sharing. They have got a long way through that. The best way of describing this is to describe it as the three baskets approach. Where there is agreement reached, where there is convergence that is in the first basket. Where there is some disagreement but short-term prospects for negotiating, particularly through meetings of the representatives, we call that the second basket. And the third basket area is where there remain significant disagreements and some of that will be discussed of course at a later stage in the whole negotiating process. So they are working through the governance and power-sharing chapter and identifying issues in the way I have described. But some issues they will of course come back to much later in the negotiation, even though they will move on now. As time goes on they will move into the next chapter, which as you know is the property chapter.

Question: When is that going to happen?

Answer: Well, we will see, there is no particular time laid down for that but they made good progress on the judiciary and they are moving on Monday to discuss deadlock-resolving mechanisms, and I think you could hope they could get to property before too long.

Question: Do you have a plan to intensify the meetings from once a week now to twice a week?

Answer: No, I think the process is working quite well now. It is working a lot better than it did initially. I think it is working quite well. There have of course been two meetings this week and there will be a meeting again on Monday, so we are going through a period where there are actually quite a lot of meetings. But it is envisaged that the meetings of the leaders will be more or less on a weekly basis depending on scheduling. But you see, what you now have is the meetings of the representatives sand officials that supplement the meetings of the leaders, and that has been a very helpful evolution of the process.

Question: Mr. Downer, from what you have heard and from what you have seen up till now, do you believe there is a possibility for a solution before the elections of the European Parliament next June?

Answer: I wouldn’t put a time on it. I think the important thing is that they maintain momentum. Obviously there will be easier issues and more difficult issues, so the momentum won’t be straight-line momentum, but nevertheless they need to maintain momentum and not lose momentum. I think to set themselves official deadlines would actually make the process more difficult rather than easier. So I think the word that I want to really stress here is momentum and need the to maintain momentum through the process and I think there is momentum.

Question: How can you sustain momentum well into 2009?

Answer: I think that is a question of the political will of the leaders. I said this yesterday it is the impression that I have, I have spent a lot of time with them now, I have come to know them and they are people who do have the political will to find a solution. I keep saying this: I have been involved in a lot of disputes and dispute resolution over the years and this is by any standards a difficult problem; obviously it is a long-standing problem, it has many different facets and you wouldn’t expect it to be solved overnight. I mean if this could be solved quickly it would have been solved long ago, obviously. So it will take time. I think obviously the process will go into 2009 and as long as the momentum is sustained they can achieve a good solution in the end.
UNFICYP

[halil]

INTERVIEW TO BRT NEWSROOM

The UN Secretary Generals’ Special Representative to Cyprus Alexander Downer gave an interview to the Bayrak Radio and Television newsroom yesterday.

Answering questions, after the two leaders meeting, Downer said that he was pleased with the process.

Referring to a topic that has frequently caused disagreement, Downer reminded that the Cyprus Problem belongs to the Cypriots; therefore the agreement will be put to referenda to the Cypriot people.

‘The duty of the United Nations is to be as helpful as possible. We are just helping in the process, but they are the ones who will negotiate the issue’, he added

The Special Envoy continued by saying that he has had the opportunity to become more acquainted with the two leaders in Cyprus and therefore did not believe that the negotiations process had slowed down.

Mr. Downer said “both Leaders are sensitively working for the future of both the communities on the island and they are determined to find an eligible solution.”

Downer said that it may take time for the Cyprus Problem to be solved but the two leaders have showed the will to achieve a positive outcome.

“If the two leaders did not have the political will needed for a solution then the process would have ended unsuccessfully. However, I believe that there will be a positive outcome,” he added.

He once again stressed that he was optimistic that the process was going at the expected speed.

Alexander Downer concluded his interview by sending a message to the Turkish Cypriot people.

‘The existing process is different from other processes in history. There are two different leaders. A chance should be given to these leaders.

There will be times that helplessness will be felt. But, I believe that this process will be successful.’

[paliometoxo]

these talks are pointless talat says one thing in the meeting then to eu and un says another....

these talks are a waist until turkey is willing to give up their idea of two states...

[halil]

Once more reminder for all of you .....

Have a look what they were agreed ..... these writings are from UN web pages.......

Joint Statement by Greek Cypriot Leader Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot Leader Mehmet Ali Talat
Statement of the two leaders, read by Tayé-Brook Zerihoun, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Chief of Mission of UNFICYP, following the meeting on 23 May 2008 between Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, and Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias

The Leaders today had genuine and fruitful discussions, and reviewed the results achieved pursuant to the 21 March agreement.
They reaffirmed their commitment to a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation with political equality, as defined by relevant Security Council resolutions. This partnership will have a Federal Government with a single international personality, as well as a Turkish Cypriot Constituent State and a Greek Cypriot Constituent State, which will be of equal status.

They instructed their Representatives to examine, within 15 days, the results of the technical committees.
The Representatives will consider civilian and military confidence-building measures. They will also pursue the opening of Limnitis/Yeşilırmak and other crossing points.
The Leaders decided to come together again in the second half of June to make a new assessment.
UNFICYP