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[halil]

TWO LEADERS IN CYPRUS ARE EXPECTED TO FINALIZE THEIR DISCUSSIONS ON EU MATTERS

Mehmet Ali Talat and Dimitris Christofias will continue their discussions at another meeting to be held tomorrow. The meeting will start at 10.00 o’clock in the morning.
EU Matters will again be discussed by the leaders who are expected to close the chapter and move on to the next topic, `economy`.

Yesterday, the United Nations Secretary General’s Special Adviser for Cyprus Alexander Downer was received by President Mehmet Ali Talat.

The UN Envoy told reporters at the end of the two hour long meeting that the two leaders would finalize their discussions on EU Matters tomorrow.

Responding to a question, the envoy said there was convergence about many points being handled under the topic of EU matters, but added that differences still remained on some subjects.

He noted that new developments and more progress was needed for a settlement to be reached, however, he said that the negotiation process was moving faster than they expected.

The UN envoy who is to stay on the island until the 15th of April, will attend the meetings to be held between the two leaders and those to be held between senior aides of the two leaders and local experts.

Earlier, Talat complained that the negotiation process was moving slowly, adding that he conveyed his concerns on the issue to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.

“We insisted on two issues, the first was the need to speed up the negotiation process and the second, the conclusion of the talks”, the Talat said.

Complaining that the negotiation process was not moving as fast as the Turkish Cypriot Side expected, he said that the United Nations should play a more active role in the process.

Talat explained that arbitration could be needed in case of a failure to reach agreement on all issues, underlining the need for the Greek Cypriot Side to accept such a move.

Asked whether a “Cypriot” solution could be achieved, he said “In my opinion, it is not possible. Had it been possible, a “Cypriot solution” would have been realized long ago”.

Pointing out that the Cyprus issue had long been turned into an international problem, he said “because of this, international instruments should play a role”.

He noted that they were aware of the dangers of arbitration, but, said that there was no other option.

Talat also added that the Greek Cypriot Leader should also keep the door open for international instruments.

Responding to another question, he expressed the hope that the island would be united, adding that any text to be agreement would be put to referenda on both sides.

Full-fledged negotiations which are sponsored by the United Nations were launched in September with the aim of bringing about a comprehensive settlement to the Cyprus problem.

[paliometoxo]

good lets hope they can come to an agreement that is good for both sides

[Jerry]

Arbitration, what a bloody good idea. Since both sides are now (or aspire to be) part of the European family I suggest a panel of three made up from the European Court of Justice, The European Court of Human Rights and a legal representitive from the UN who has detailed knowledge of the UN Charter. Let's have a legal and just solution rather than one imposed malicious demographic changes and brute force.

[Kikapu]

Arbitration, what a bloody good idea. Since both sides are now (or aspire to be) part of the European family I suggest a panel of three made up from the European Court of Justice, The European Court of Human Rights and a legal representitive from the UN who has detailed knowledge of the UN Charter. Let's have a legal and just solution rather than one imposed malicious demographic changes and brute force.

I agree with you, Jerry.!

I think it is your kinds of proposals by the international community that Talat was worried about when he stated this.

He noted that they were aware of the dangers of arbitration

I think Talat had in the mind the Three Stooges and Kofi Annan as their ring leader.!

[halil]

The two leaders closed the chapter of EU matters temporarily at today’s meeting.
In a short statement at the end of the meeting, the UN Envoy Alexander Downer said that good progress was made by the two leaders.
`A lot was put on paper`, he said, adding that momentum in the talks should be maintained.

He said the leaders also agreed on the implementation of some confidence building measures.

Responding to a question, Mr Downer said there is an expectation of the international community that this time the two sides will reach an agreement.

He also noted that the next meeting between the two leaders will be held on Wednesday, when the two leaders will start to discuss economy.
The full-fledged negotiations were launched in September with the aim of bringing about a comprehensive solution to the Cyprus problem

[paliometoxo]

they seem to be temporarily closing matters all the time. i thought they where sitting talking not sitting asnd delaying things..

i could picture it

Talat: we want eu
Christofias:ok but you must first get ur troops out of cyprus
Talat: no, you have nothing we have eu
Christofias:we support your eu but you must remove troops from cyprus and re unite the land.
Talat; NO , you have nothing we have EU
Christofias:ok how about half the troops as a sign of good faith?
Talat: NO I SAID... WE GIVE YOU NOTHING, we get EU!!..*spits in Christofias face* thats all ull get and ull like it!!
Christofias:since your not willing to budge on this topic either maybe we should talk later..
Talat:..Storms off..

[halil]

WE HAVE CONCLUDED DISCUSSIONS ON EU MATTERS AND WILL MOVE ON TO ECONOMIC ISSUES

President Mehmet Ali Talat reaffirmed that they had finished discussions on EU matters for now and would start discussions on economic issues at their next meeting.

Answering reporters’ questions on his return to the Presidential Palace today, President Talat said ‘for now we have concluded our discussions on EU matters. The sections that we did not agree on will continue to be discussed by our technical committees.’

‘We have also reconfirmed the four other topics that were left behind for the technical committees to handle’, he added.

Explaining that agreement had been reached on issued such as easing the formalities required when ambulances need to cross over from north to south or vice versa, and on water saving projects financed by the UNDP, President Talat said ‘when it comes to cultural heritage, we have agreed that a Consultancy Council will be established and become active.’

Noting that when it came to the subject of crime and criminal matters the President said the title which foresees the exchange of criminal information was one of the four titles discussed and concluded by the technical committees successfully.

Asked weather full agreement has been reached on this issue, the President replied ‘we hope so. An office will be opened. Officers will be on duty 24 hours and these officers will share information when it comes to criminal matters. This is a very important step. Criminals who have been using both sides of the island as a shelter from time to time won’t be able to do that from now on. This is a subject that has seen significant process since 1963 and is a result of important cooperation.’

Asked his concerns regarding this issue Talat said ‘for three months this issue has been discussed. Due to some difficulties we were not able to make this project come to life. One by one we have overcome these problems and my only hope is that no new problems will emerge’.

Upon being asked why the two leaders decided to take a break and take a walk in the sun today, President Talat said we wanted to give the technical committees more time as we noticed that they hadn’t concluded their discussions so we decided to take a walk and look at the asparagus and hosteses.

[halil]

Transcript of Remarks by Special Adviser of the Secretary-General Alexander Downer following 10 April Meeting


Ladies and gentlemen, I thought I would just give you the traditional briefing of this morning’s proceedings. The leaders had a long tête-à-tête meeting. During the tête-à-tête meeting the representatives and officials used that time very usefully for further discussions. There are two categories of things to say here. First of all, for the time being the discussions have concluded on EU matters. There has been a good measure of agreement on many aspects of EU matters, and next week on Wednesday the leaders will meet again and they will begin discussions on the economy. There has also been good progress made on confidence-building measures and there are a number that have been agreed on now for implementation. The first is the crossing of ambulances in emergency cases that will come into effect from next week. The committee on communications and liaison for crime and criminal matters will come into force. The Advisory Board has been established on the preservation of cultural heritage. And the project which is funded by UNDP to deal with water-saving measures is proceeding as well. So, a number of the confidence-building measures have not just been agreed on but it has been agreed that they will proceed to implement those particular confidence-building measures. If you have any questions I will be happy to answer them.

Question: We saw the two leaders walking around the area. What was that about?

Answer: Well, they had a tête-à-tête and the opportunity to talk and walk with each other. There was no particular significance in that. There were representatives and technical officials finishing off some discussions on some technical aspects of the EU issue and the leaders took the opportunity to go for a walk.

Question: We understand there are no deadlines for this process, but a timeline is being sketched out or is starting to emerge, with a second [reading] of the major subjects in the summer and perhaps a series of give-and-take beginning in the fall. Can you elaborate on this? Can you give us basically a timeline or deadlines for this to happen?

Answer: What you describe is, I think it’s probably fair to say, a possibility. That is, I think, the best way I should answer your question. Of course, there are no fixed timelines. Naturally enough, it is important that this process has appropriate momentum and that it moves forward. We have now completed, in what is sometimes called the first reading, the EU chapter, and that has been a very good discussion. The economy is going to be the next issue to be discussed and there are two more chapters after that. There is, of course, the issue of territory and the issue of security. When the leaders have reached the end of the first reading, there will be sort of a second round process and that will inevitably move towards a third round process; a give-and-take process. But there will be give-and-take all the way through. There has actually been through the first round quite a degree of give-and-take, including during the course of today. So there has been a lot of that. So it’s important not to oversimplify the process, but it is also important not to impose any timelines on it. But nevertheless it is crucial that the momentum be maintained and I think there is good momentum. It is important to remember this: more has been agreed and written down – agreed between the two parties and written down -- than at any time since 1974. So, progress is gradually been made.

Question: What is the biggest obstacle, in your estimation, that the two leaders face?

Answer: I wouldn’t like to speculate on that. I have my own private views about these issues. Look, I keep saying this and it is very important to remember it: This is a very big negotiation. A longstanding issue and inevitably it’s going to be pretty difficult. We have had a large number of meetings – over, I think, 20 meetings now -- of the leaders. That’s good. They have made real progress, they have put more on paper now of an agreed nature than at any time since 1974. Of course, you know the Annan Plan had a lot of words in it but it wasn’t agreed in the sense that this is agreed material between the two leaders and that, I think, is pretty encouraging. The last thing I’d say is that there is an expectation from the international community that this time the two leaders can finally reach agreement. There is expectation and there is very strong support for this process coming from the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and, as you have seen, from people like the new President of the United States, President Obama, who has expressed his strong support for the process, and right across the board from Russia and China and so on. All of that is very encouraging, but it’s not just a question of support: it\'s a question of expectation and there is an expectation that this process can be successful.

Question: And the expectation is to see the end game by the end of this year?

Answer: Well, we will see when the end game comes. We will certainly be announcing it. Thank you.
UNFICYP