Tim Drayton wrote:YFred wrote:I have been reading this man's articles for some time and have never disagreed with what he wrote, but this time I hope he is wrong with his final conclusion.It’s hard to say ‘I told you so’
By Loucas Charalambous
ON MARCH 9, 2008, a few days after President Christofias moved into the presidential palace, this column had written the following, with regard to his approach to the resumption of peace talks:
“It is truly paradoxical that the Turkish side is more in a hurry than we are. It is our president who should have been seeking the setting of timeframes and not Mehmet Ali Talat....
“In the first half of 2010, at the latest, there will be elections in the north. I say at the latest because the opposition has been persistently demanding that elections be brought forward, something that Talat and his party have been reluctant to do so far.
“The only time available for productive talks is up to the summer of 2009, after which the Turkish Cypriots will be involved in their election campaigns. It should also be taken into account that Talat and his party are in a much weaker position now than they were three years ago and that this weakening could continue. Anyone following political events north of the Green Line would know that it is distinctly possible for Talat and CTP to lose the next elections.
“We therefore have, at best, a period of 15 months to reach a settlement. If we fail to do so in this time, we can forget the negotiated settlement. Under the circumstance, for Christofias to insist on the July 8 agreement that will not bring us any closer to a settlement, even after 30 years, indicates either a dangerous ignorance of the hard facts or indifference for developments that are around the corner.”
Thirteen months have passed since this was written and I think that developments have proved this evaluation correct. In the end the elections were held a year earlier and resulted in the defeat of Talat’s party. Everyone, including the supporters of the maintenance of the status quo on our side, is now talking about the negative effects the election result would have on the talks.
Then again, Talat’s defeat should be a cause for celebration for Garoyian, Omirou, Syllouris, Perdikis, the Archbishop, the super-patriots of Phileleftheros and other opponents of a settlement. It is, to say the least, very strange that the rejectionists are worried about the ‘negative effects’ on the talks. Surely the supporters of partition should have been dancing in the streets after Dervis Eroglu’s victory.
As for Christofias, he no longer has to worry about “suffocating timeframes” being imposed on him. When he starts negotiating with Eroglu he will realise that the new ‘prime minister’, like him, does not want any timeframes.
The Turkish Cypriots living in Morphou are no longer interested in timeframes either. While back in 2004, 65 per cent of them had voted in favour of the Annan plan and the return of Morphou to the Greek Cypriots, the majority voted for the partition in these elections.
This must have been music to the ears of the Mayor of Morphou Charalambos Pittas and deputy Antigone Papadopoulou, who were declaring last August that Morphou “was not up for negotiation and would not be sold out”. Morphou will now remain Turkish for good, so that Pittas and Papadopoulou can continue leading the patriotic ‘return march’ every October. And when they pass away, their offspring can go on the annual march.
As everyone rushes to offer an interpretation of the election result in the north, I feel this column also has the right to do so. The main message of the election was sent by the voters of Morphou: the party is over. The Cyprus problem was solved on April 24 2004. It is time we accepted this – even the optimists among us who had pinned our hopes on the ‘last opportunity’.
The ‘last opportunity’, I fear was five years ago. There is no other.
Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2009
I am afraid that the statement:
"When he starts negotiating with Eroglu"
is very wrong. Talat will remain Christofias' interlocutor for as long as the former remains president.
I think he is refering to beyond the next Presidential elections in the north in early part of 2010 and assuming that Eroglu will win, which is a fair assumption.
