Cyprus-Forum.com

[halil]

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has warned the two leaders in Cyprus that the moment has come to confront hard choices and that they needed to inject “greater impetus” in the talks to achieve substantive agreement on all core issues or else run the “very real risk” of losing momentum, the Cyprus Mail reports.



“The negotiations cannot be an open-ended process, nor can we afford interminable talks for the sake of talks”, he stressed.

In his second progress report since last November, to be presented before the UN Security Council on March 15, Ban said he remained “concerned about the rate of progress in the talks” and called on both leaders to tackle the “hard choices”.


He cautioned that the next three months would be “less conducive” to progress because of elections in both Cyprus(south Cyprus) and Turkey, adding that “there is a need now for greater impetus to achieve substantive agreements on the core issues across all chapters before the electoral cycles are too advanced.”



He called for “courageous and dedicated leadership” which will take practical steps to bring talks to a conclusion.



“This will require both leaders to build a greater level of mutual trust between themselves and between their two communities,” said the UN chief.



While both leaders have made efforts over the last months, Ban highlighted that more must be done to prevent the negotiations from “stalling or drifting endlessly”.



Divergences remain in governance and power-sharing, economy and EU matters, which are “not insurmountable” though less could be said about the remaining three chapters of property, territory and security and guarantees.



On property, each side’s stated positions “remain far apart” while the two leaders have yet to agree on the circumstances in which to discuss territory, he noted.



Ban called on the leaders to recognise that some of the key considerations in the above three chapters are “necessarily inter-related”.



The UN chief left the possibility of a third meeting with the two leaders open, saying he would decide in the second half of the month, depending on whether enough progress has been made.

If the meeting were to take place, he would expect the two leaders to explain “how they intend to resolve remaining divergences”.



On the prospects of an international conference, Ban said he would consider convening one, in consultation with both sides, “if there has been sufficient progress on the core issues within and across chapters”.



The exact parameters of such a meeting are still being discussed by the two leaders, he noted.

Ban said the two leaders have agreed to discuss security and guarantees at the multilateral meeting, though he acknowledged that the Greek Cypriots would also like to discuss the issue in advance.



On the issue of maps and figures relating to territory, both sides agree that this should be discussed during the last phase of the process, though there is no agreement yet on the precise timing, he said.



The UN chief strongly encourages the two sides to take the necessary steps to finalise talks on property, once again repeating his call for both sides to make productive use of international experts regarding the technical aspects of the chapter.

[halil]

The Greek and Turkish Cypriot sides at a meeting on last Monday reaffirmed that UN principles will form the basis of negotiations on the reunification of Cyprus.



“We have made clear together with Eroglu that we are talking about federation, not confederation”, Christofias said after the meeting.



The Greek Cypriots have been seeking official clarification for some time following a series of contradictory comments by Eroglu in which he appeared to advocate a “two states, two peoples” solution.

[halil]

Solution or goodbye

Under the headline “Solution or goodbye”, Makarios Droushiotis writing in Politis says that the UN Secretary-General is determined to clarify things in the Cyprus problem. Without actually spelling it out, in essence his latest report sets out a road map for finishing the talks and clearly warns that the UN will not stay involved for ever.



He says that anyone who can read between the lines of diplomatic talk can clearly see how the UN is thinking and what strategy it wants to lay down for the coming weeks and months. The writer believes that there will either be a breakthrough or a complete collapse. He says Ban Ki-moon is so committed and determined that there is no more room for tactical ploys.



Droushiotis says the UN’s road map is as follows:



- the UN considers the chapters on economy and the EU closed. Those on governance and power sharing have small divergences which are not unbridgeable.

- the only chapter still pending and preventing the Cyprus problem from going to a conference is the property issue. The leaders must bridge their differences using the UN’s experts.

- the leaders must converge their positions on all chapters through cross negotiations i.e. they must start a give and take.

- the UN S-G will reevaluate everything at the end of March and will decide whether to call the leaders to another meeting with him

- at this meeting, which will probably be held in April, he will ask the leaders for proposals as to how they intend to proceed. He will propose that the procedure be expanded.

- his report is clearly preparing the ground for an international conference with the participation of the guarantor powers and the EU

- convergences in all major issues must happen before the elections in Cyprus and Turkey

- he will not write a new report . The next evaluation will take place in June and according to developments he will decide as to the future of UNFICYP and his good offices mission.

- he warns that the UN has been in Cyprus for 50 years now and internal discussions have already begun as to its future on the island.



Droushiotis says there are three major elements arising from the report - the S-G’s insistence on convergences in the next few weeks, that he is preparing the ground for an international conference, that the UN’s role in Cyprus is coming to an end.

[B25]

Perhaps someone should remind the SG to stop wasting his time with pussyfooting with Turkey and get tough on the UN resolutions that have been passed against her.

It is a disgrace and shameful act on the pert of the SG personally and the whole of the principles of the UN where an invader occupier in violation of numerous UN resolutions is eevn being negotiated with.

This just shows up the UN as a farcicle organisation with no real meaning in the world. I mean who takes them seriously these days FFS.

BAN KI MOON, pull your finger out of your arse mate and get to work on Turkey to adhere to the resolutions the UN has voted for and never mind the bollocks you keep spouting about TCs and shit.

What a waste of GC money, we could have used that for a few more tanks to date.

[Bananiot]

Actually the UN is utterly fed up with us. We have been bothering them since 1963 and without an end in sight they have decided that they have had enough. The world has more pressing issues to attend to than the incoherent ranting of 1 million spoilt brats of Cyprus.

[boomerang]

ban will take orders from the 5 permanent members...he cannot decide on his own accord...

[Bananiot]

But, Turkey has strategic interests in Cyprus and the permanent members of the SC have strategic and financial interests with Turkey ... but there will always be fools around that think that moral values are the order of the day ... at the end of the day.

[boomerang]

atleast 2 permament members have conflicting interests...namely china and russia...they will be signing their own death warrant..

another is the uk...a split could end the uk bases...

but this makes excellent headlines for the simpletons...

[Bananiot]

Really, you believe in fables now. Just look at the financial agreements Russia and Turkey have signed only recently and think about the money crazy Chinese and the dollars they hope to make from Turkey. But, do we agree that we should climb down from the moral high grounds and be a little bit more practical?

[boomerang]

further more a breakdown in negotiations does not mean recognition but what it does mean is furter assimilation of the north provided it hasn't peaked already...

bye bye tcs...