Red or blue? Cyprus readies for the final call on future
Saturday, 25 July 2009 09:01
"Other options will surely be considered" if there is no agreement by the end of the year, Talat says, referring to a permanent partition of Cyprus.
Having had nearly 40 rounds of talks with his Greek Cypriot counterpart so far, Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat is convinced that these negotiations are the last chance to reunite Cyprus in a federal state.
“Time is important for us,” he said at a meeting with journalists at an İstanbul hotel overlooking the Bosporus on Friday. “Our people still want a solution, but their belief that a solution is possible is evaporating fast.”
In the 38 rounds of reunification talks held since September, the Turkish and Greek Cypriot delegations headed by Talat and Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Christofias have reviewed nearly all issues of disagreement, but are far from drafting an agreement acceptable to both sides. In all the six chapters into which the negotiations have been divided, the delegations have so far stated their positions. Incompatible positions are marked as red for the Turkish Cypriot side and blue for the Greek Cypriots in joint papers prepared at the end of negotiations on each chapter.
Talat hopes all the red and blue lines will eventually turn into black, signifying in this context an agreement, but is convinced that without serious international involvement in the later stages of the negotiations, the red and blue lines may remain unchanged forever. With distrust of the European Union as a fair mediator running high among the Turkish Cypriots, the United Nations and the United States have been invited to play a strong role in pressuring the two sides to agree to a solution.
Time is precious, and Talat said “other options will sure be considered” if there is no agreement by the end of the year, referring to permanent partition of the island into a Turkish Cypriot north and a Greek Cypriot south. This is not an easy statement to make for Talat, who spent most of his political career clashing with former Turkish Cypriot President Rauf Denktaş, a staunch opponent of reunification.
He said the risk of permanent division should not be underestimated because peoples on both sides of the island are losing enthusiasm for reunification, which will, after all, mean the painful processes of property exchange and moving after a relatively settled life for the past three-and-a-half decades.
The Turkish Cypriots, who backed a reunification on the basis of a UN plan in 2004, are increasingly dismayed at the Greek Cypriot reluctance to agree to concessions vital for a settlement and the EU's continued failure to force Greek Cyprus to a solution. In a major sign of frustration with the ongoing peace efforts, Turkish Cypriots elected a party that opposes a federal settlement in Cyprus to government in April.
In Greek Cyprus, on the other hand, there is no sense of urgency. On the contrary, to appease the nationalist opposition's objections to reunification with the Turkish Cypriots after decades of division, the administration is taking the process slowly and tells the press frequently that there are irreconcilable differences with the Turkish Cypriots and that a solution in a few months' time is highly unlikely.
In December 2009, the EU will review Turkey's refusal to open its ports and airports to traffic from Greek Cyprus, and the suspension of Turkey's EU membership bid is one of the possible outcomes of that review. Although many say a radical decision like suspending the membership process altogether is unlikely, the year-end review is likely to produce further complications for Ankara's already troubled membership efforts.
A few months later, in April, the Turkish Cypriots will head to the polls to elect their next president. Talat said earlier that he would not run for re-election if he saw no prospect for a settlement. “Settlement on the island is like a political mission for me,” he said on Friday. “But it is [too] early for me to say if I will or will not stand for re-election because talks are still going on.”
Talat and Christofias are about to conclude what Talat describes as the first phase of the negotiations in early August before taking a break until September. That means they will have finished reviewing their stances on the six chapters regulating -- among other issues -- power sharing, property arrangements, security guarantees and the issue of borders in a new, federal Cypriot state. Christofias recently said the positions of the two sides were entirely irreconcilable on the issue of military guarantees. In regards to other chapters discussed so far, Greek Cypriot officials have repeatedly said there was little progress.
Talat, on the other hand, is optimistic, saying that of the six chapters under negotiation, their positions are similar in three, namely the administration and power sharing, the economy and EU affairs.
On the issues of military guarantees and property, however, the two sides do not see eye to eye. For the first time in the long history of efforts to reunite Cyprus, the Greek Cypriots say they are opposed to any third country providing security guarantees to any of the two communities of Cyprus. This is a fundamental difference between them and the Turkish Cypriots, who want the continuation of Turkish military guarantees under a set of international agreements signed by Greece, Britain, Turkey and both of the communities of Cyprus in 1960.
Talat said in the past that the Greek Cypriots accepted the continuation of the security guarantees in the early stages of negotiations. But this time they say any security guarantees made by an outsider are not acceptable in this era. The Turkish Cypriot leader also said that although the Greek Cypriots want a quick timetable for the withdrawal of Turkish troops from the island, there is no such timeline, insisting that any timetable will be discussed after an agreement is reached.
http://www.turkishny.com/en/english-news/12226-red-or-blue-cyprus-readies-for-the-final-call-on-future.html
and this is the underlining factor and has nothing to do with tcs...all this just to further turkey'w aspirations...
In December 2009, the EU will review Turkey's refusal to open its ports and airports to traffic from Greek Cyprus, and the suspension of Turkey's EU membership bid is one of the possible outcomes of that review. Although many say a radical decision like suspending the membership process altogether is unlikely, the year-end review is likely to produce further complications for Ankara's already troubled membership efforts.
talat is a total sellout...
