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Cyprus - Transcript of Remarks to the Press by Alexander Downer, Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Cyprus Greentree Estate, Manhasset, New York 30 October 2011

Ladies and Gentlemen, I will just give you a brief outline of what has been happening during the course of the day. As you know the Secretary-General came here this morning. The Secretary-General met for two full hours with the leaders which included breakfast as well. During that time the Secretary-General instituted substantive discussions on four core issues of the Cyprus talks. First of all, on governance and power-sharing, in particular focusing on the issue of the executive, that is, the presidency. Secondly, on the issue of property. Thirdly, on the issue of territory. Fourthly, on the issue of citizenship.

Since the Secretary-General departed, Mr. Pascoe and I and others have met with the two teams. We have had extensive discussions with them about these issues, concentrating on those four issues that I have mentioned. I think it is fair to say, and I am quoting the two sides here, rather than using my own words, but it certainly reflects the United Nations’ own view, that these discussions have been positive, productive and vigorous -- appropriately vigorous and certainly positive and productive. From our point of view, the United Nations is pleased with the way it is going. We like the venue very much. It is a nice place for the leaders to come to and their teams. I hope they are being appropriately looked after here and I think they are.

Finally, about the future, well tonight, we are having a dinner. This is an opportunity to continue discussions. Tomorrow, the Secretary-General will return. Our expectation is the Secretary-General will be here for about six hours. He will arrive at about three-o-clock in the afternoon which is when the session will begin with the Secretary-General and the leaders. And the Secretary-General will later host a dinner that will be a working dinner. And that will bring the meeting here to a conclusion. It is not finally decided yet, but it is likely that the Secretary-General will talk to you on Tuesday morning rather than tomorrow night but we will just have to wait and see.

Q: Has the United Nations submitted proposals to bridge the gaps between the sides?

Alexander Downer : No, we have not. We are not going to be arbitrators in this process. We have repeatedly said that. We have said all along we won’t be arbitrators or mediators in this process. But we are happy to be as helpful as we possibly can be. We haven’t been submitting bridging proposals. What we have been doing is talking to the two sides extensively about the positions they have as well as discussing the other side’s positions so there is a full understanding of the positions. But at the end of the day the two sides, where they make convergences, have to make their own convergences. The United Nations cannot impose anything on them and we have no intention of doing so.

Q: Is there any progress on governance and power-sharing? Has the give-and-take started?

AD : Well, I think I answered this question in Cyprus before. It is a sort of semantic issue. Obviously, the leaders look at the different positions. The two sides have tried to work out ways of navigating through those positions. So, you can call it what you like. We would try to avoid getting into a semantic debate. You will understand that I cannot go into details of what they have been discussing but I have gone into the broader issues of what they discussed. I did say that the discussions have been positive, productive and vigorous. They are not just my words, but they are the words used by the sides themselves. I think they have found it very positive and useful during the course of today and there is still tomorrow ahead of us. And part of that discussion has been on the question of the executive. We will see how it goes through the rest of tonight and tomorrow.

Q: Was the venue chosen with the purpose of softening the tensions and in order to speed up the process?

AD : The venue was actually chosen because the Whitney Foundation has a relationship with the United Nations. The United Nations and the Secretary-General frequently use this place for meetings. Indeed, he has been here yesterday and the day before for a totally unrelated and internal United Nations conference. So it is a natural place for him to choose and it is very much his own decision to bring the two leaders here. It was his own personal decision to bring them here for two days so they can stay overnight and spend plenty of time exploring ways through some of the core issues. Look, I think it is a beautiful house and a lovely park around it. It is an environment that anybody would naturally enough enjoy. The leaders can speak for themselves but they seem to be happy here. The alternative is to meet in the Secretary-General’s conference room and that is a gracious but stark alternative to a place like this. It is a nice place and people are happy to be here.

Q: Does the United Nations expect any roadmap after these talks?

AD : What will happen at the end of the discussions, the Secretary-General will announce. And that will be tomorrow night or more likely Tuesday morning.

Q: Can you say that the discussions are promising so far?

AD : Well, yes, it has been positive and productive so far. It has been very good. So we will have to wait and see.

Q: Can you tell us a little bit about the format?

AD : The Secretary-General began his meetings with them around the breakfast table. Actually in the same room after all the breakfast material was cleared away, in a more formal setting, the Secretary-General had a discussion with them, with the two leaders sitting side by side and the Secretary-General and his team sitting opposite them. The leaders had with them their representatives. Mr. Ozersay and Mr. Iacovou were in the room, note takers and so on. After the Secretary-General left, Mr. Pascoe and I and our people have gone to see the leaders. We spent a good deal of time with Mr. Christofias, talking about the issues with him. We then spent time in the afternoon with Mr. Eroglu and his team. And also our United Nations officials, the experts have been going and talking to the Greek Cypriot and also to the Turkish Cypriot experts. It has been a good exchange of views throughout the course of the day.

Q: You were talking in superlatives about the meeting. Is there anything achieved? And why only two days of meetings?

AD : It was initially only going to be a few hours and then the Secretary-General decided, no, look, what I really want to do is make something of this, not just have a meeting as we had in Geneva and before that in New York that lasted for three or four hours, but [rather] set aside a good deal of time. Obviously for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, he has many issues to focus on. And the two leaders have a lot of issues and a lot of work to do. They are away from home and they obviously don’t want to spend too much time away from home. So the point I make is, I think it is giving the whole Cyprus question a pretty good airing spending the two days here, two days here entirely focused on this issue, not focused on other things. And I don’t think I would quite interpret what I said as superlative. I said positive, productive and vigorous. And I think that is a good way of describing it. The atmosphere has been very positive. The discussions have been productive. It is vigorous discussion, and that is what you need in this type of negotiations.

Q: In all previous joint meetings the Secretary-General would make his statement flanked by the two leaders. Why is it different this time?

AD : I did not really say that. We have not worked all that out yet. In Geneva and New York the Secretary-General read out a statement flanked by the two leaders. So there is no reason [this time] why he would not be flanked by the two leaders. That is not an issue. That is a complete non-issue. If they wish to be there, they would be welcome to be there. Of course they would be. We honestly have not gotten into that detail yet. We have not even thought about that. If they wished to be there with the Secretary-General they would be entirely welcome, of course they would be.

Q: Why proximity talks now?

AD : Well, we have done both things. In a joint meeting with the Secretary-General in the course of the morning we got to spend something like six hours with the Secretary-General. We have also mixed that up with separate meetings of Mr. Pascoe and me with the two sides. And I think there is a mix that seems to be working pretty well. We are always trying to think of something different. We are always thinking of creative and constructive ways of pushing a process forward. We need to fulfill our obligations to the Security Council.

Q: Do proximity talks imply you are making bridging proposals?

AD : We are listening to what they are saying and discussing with them their thoughts. We are having extensive discussions with them. That is not the same thing as making bridging proposals.

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