Cyprus-Forum.com

[paliometoxo]

'DON’T BELIEVE everything you read’ was the message President Demetris Christofias gave yesterday after a Turkish newspaper apparently revealed what a united Cyprus would like.

Christofias said the paper was taking Turkish or Turkish Cypriot positions and putting them as his, adding this was “unacceptable and unethical”.

Hurriyet ran a headline article yesterday called “Development towards a United Republic of Cyprus” where it claimed to reveal points of convergence between Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat.

According to the Turkish daily, the two leaders have agreed that there will be no army in a united Cyprus, but both constituent states will have their own police force, plus a federal one similar to the FBI. The Turkish Cypriots apparently seek equal numbers of police, but that the Greek Cypriots insist on a 60/40 ratio.

Other alleged points of agreement are that passports and identity cars will be common while for each government office there will be a Greek Cypriot director and Turkish Cypriot deputy or vice-versa.

The paper said both leaders agreed during their 51st meeting not to give any more information to the press before completing the talks. Citing diplomatic sources, it also said both sides agreed to a rotating presidency elected by a senate.

According to Hurriyet, the biggest obstacle in the talks is the Greek Cypriot insistence on a single sovereignty, instead of the “structure currently existing…of two sovereign states”. The settlers issue is another problem-area, with the Turkish Cypriot side allegedly refusing to send Turks who settled in Cyprus back to Turkey.

Property was also referred to as one of the key problems, with reference made to compensation for loss of use, though no mention was made of restitution.

Speaking after his meeting with Talat yesterday, Christofias rejected Hurriyet’s claims, saying they. The two leaders have agreed on a federal solution, with one state, one single sovereignty, citizenship and international personality, he said. It was also true that the two agreed a united Republic of Cyprus would be army-free, and would have police units for each constituent state and a federal force, as well as a rotating presidency.

However, he added: “It is not true we agreed that the president and vice-president be voted by the senate, that’s the Turkish Cypriot position. Our position is for direct elections by the people with weighted voting, however much some people shout about it.”

Christofias said the paper’s claim that Turkish Cypriots want things to stay as they are now with two sovereign states was misleading. “That is wrong,” he said.

He accused Turkish and Turkish Cypriot press of creating misunderstanding by taking Turkish or Turkish Cypriot statements or documents “that have nothing to do with our positions and interpreting them as ours. I consider it unacceptable and unethical.”

Government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said the report was part of a larger, intensifying communications strategy to give the impression that the talks are going well before Turkey’s pending evaluation at the EU Council next month.

Despite the “misleading”, “unacceptable and unethical” report, the two leaders were able to have a “very constructive” meeting on organisational matters yesterday, said Christofias.

Asked to comment on Talat aide Ozdil Nami’s comments that the two sides have completed the categorisation of properties, Christofias said: “There is convergence on this issue with one or two categories remaining, which we can live with.”

He highlighted that the substance of the issue was not the categories but the principles on which the solution in the property chapter will be based. “I believe there can be progress on this, that is to accept the principle and from there on we can move forward.”

The UN’s Special Representative Tayé-Brook Zerihoun said they had “a very thorough and constructive discussion on the process…with which both of them were very satisfied”. The two will meet again next Tuesday to take up the issue of aliens, citizenship, immigration and asylum. They also planned to meet on December 1 and 3.