Annan 'very concerned' about delay

UNITED NATIONS Secretary-general Kofi Annan said he was very worried by a delay in the start of talks on his plan to unify Cyprus caused by Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash's illness, a spokesman said yesterday.

"The Secretary-general is very concerned. A way to get negotiations under way needs to be found urgently, because further delay could result in the disappearance of the opportunity," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

The United Nations yesterday stuck firmly to its deadline of a December 12 peace deal for Cyprus, despite the fact that the Turkish Cypriot side on Monday missed a first deadline for an initial response to the UN peace plan.

Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots say the December 12 deadline is impossible. The Greek Cypriots - who on Monday formally accepted the plan as a basis for negotiations - say it is exceedingly tight.

The UN is striving for a deal in time for the December 12 EU summit in Copenhagen, which is expected to invite 10 states, including Cyprus, to join the bloc in 2004.

Annan yesterday insisted the timetable was achievable.

"I'm still hopeful that we will have an agreement on Cyprus," Annan said when asked if he believed a deal before a key European Union summit next month was possible.

"Let me say this: I have put forward to the two parties a proposal that I believe should be a basis or could be a basis for comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem," Annan said.

Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash indicated in New York overnight that he would not refuse to negotiate the UN plan, despite disagreeing with the inclusion of maps, which provide for a significant return of land to Greek Cypriot administration.

The Turkish Cypriot side has asked for an extension to Monday's deadline for a response to the Annan, citing Denktash's ill-health. There has been no formal response for the UN. Denktash, who had open heart surgery last month, had been due to return to Cyprus on Saturday, but was readmitted to hospital suffering from a flu-like infection.

Denktash was yesterday quoted as saying he was in contact with the political leadership in the north, but stressed that accepting the plan as a basis for negotiation did not mean accepting it as a whole.

The Turkish Cypriot leader added it was a mistake to include maps with the plan because the UN knew his side opposed such discussion before the resolution of other core matters. Denktash said he had repeatedly told the UN that discussions concerning territory should be left until the end.

According to an aide, it would be at least another few days before Denktash could fly back to Cyprus.

While "he is doing fine" and his doctors were seeing him later in the day, "he is not going anywhere tomorrow," said the aide, Zehra Basaran.

The UN spokesman said the world body recognised that Denktash required consultations with officials back home before he could make up his mind.

But Annan would now meet his special envoy for Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto, in Europe next week "so as to take stock and examine what the United Nations can do to bring the process forward," the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, Greece agreed to participate in talks about the peace plan.

"We agree and support this decision (to hold Cyprus peace talks)," Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis told reporters after meeting the leaders of all of Greece's main political parties.

Back on the island, DISY chief Nicos Anastassiades said yesterday that the UN had given the Turkish Cypriot side ample time to reply on the plan.

He said the Greek Cypriot side had complied with the timeframes and urged UN envoy Alvaro de Soto to reply to Turkish election winner Tayyip Erdogan's contention that it was impossible to meet the December 12 deadline.

DIKO leader Tassos Papadopoulos wondered why some in Cyprus insisted in linking the solution with EU accession when EU and Greek officials gave repeated assurances that the two were not linked.

"We say that from the comments of EU officials, the Republic of Cyprus will join with the difference that the acquis communautaire cannot be implemented in the occupied areas if the segregation imposed by the Turkish occupying troops continues to exist," Papadopoulos said.

KISOS chairman Yiannakis Omirou said the plan contained unjustified and extended deviations from the acquis communautaire, adding that the Greek Cypriot side's participation in the negotiations did not mean acceptance of the plan's negative provisions.

"Negotiation should aim in implementing all principles that would secure a functional and viable solution and ascertain a smooth accession into the EU," Omirou said.

Weekend polls have shown that more than half the Greek Cypriot population have strong reservations about the plan and want key clauses changed. If negotiations succeed, the deal would have to be put to public referendums by March 30.

The plan has received support from Britain, the EU and the United States.

The EU said yesterday it hoped to invite a reunited island to join at the December 12 summit.

"The presidency reiterates the willingness of the EU to accommodate the terms of a comprehensive UN settlement... and its intention to encourage all those concerned to bring the negotiations to a positive conclusion (by mid-December)," current EU president Denmark said in a statement after a meeting of EU foreign ministers.

The United States also urged an accord.

"We want people to work very hard to seriously evaluate this very, very complex plan. We understand it takes time to do that, but we want people to do that... with the necessary urgency in the time that we think is available," US Cyprus envoy Thomas Weston told reporters in Ankara.
CYPRUS MAIL 20/11/2002

By George Psyllides

EUROPEAN Commission President Romano Prodi said yesterday the UN plan was a promising turn of events and urged the two sides not to let the opportunity slip.

Speaking before the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Prodi reiterated that the EU preferred a unified Cyprus to join the Union, stressing, however, that according to the decisions of the December 1999 Helsinki summit, a settlement of the Cyprus problem was not a prerequisite for the island's accession.

"The EU has already said that it is ready to take on board any comprehensive settlement and accommodate the terms of the settlement in the accession negotiations with Cyprus," Prodi said.

He added: "This is a promising turn of events and we call on the parties not to let slip this historic opportunity."

Concerning Turkey, which argues Cyprus must join when it joins the Union, Prodi said it had made progress in preparing for entry, adding that it still had "shortcomings".

"It will be up to the Copenhagen European Council to take a decision" on the next stage regarding Turkey, Prodi said.

European Union Commissioner for enlargement Guenther Verheugen on Monday warned member states to prepare for the possibility of admitting Cyprus before a settlement of the problem.

Verheugen told EU foreign ministers that a non-solution scenario was an option, given the Turkish side's view that time limitations could not permit a solution in time for the Copenhagen summit on December 12.

According to EU diplomatic sources, Verheugen believes EU leaders will decide to invite Cyprus to join the Union and attach a protocol providing that the acquis communautaire would apply in the northern part of the island without further negotiations, once Cyprus was reunited.

The European commissioner said the settlement of the Cyprus problem should be resolved without linking it to Turkey's EU aspirations.

During the debate, no member state raised any reservations to Verheugen's comments, diplomatic sources said.

According to reports. The general consensus from the discussion was that the EU would accept Cyprus at Copenhagen, irrespective of a political settlement.

Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou said efforts to resolve the problem would continue after Copenhagen if a settlement was not reached now.

Papandreou said the EU should give Turkey a date for accession negotiations, but admitted the general view was that the EU was more likely to give Turkey a 'date for a date'.
CYPRUS MAIL 20/11/2002

By Nicole Neroulias

IN ADDITION to the topographical and political concerns posed by the lengthy United Nations peace plan, one provision has been raising eyebrows on both sides of the Green Line: mandatory Greek and Turkish language instruction.

Article 45, entitled "Teaching of Official Languages," enforces teaching the nation's official languages to all secondary school students. If this aspect of the plan remains unchanged, within three years of the agreement, secondary school students, regardless of ethnic origin, would learn both Greek and Turkish alongside their other required lessons.

The Ministry of Education and Culture has not prepared a response to the provision yet, but language inspector Costas Markou said the teaching of foreign languages was consistent with the Greek Cypriot education system's multilingual emphasis.

"The tendency in Europe today is for multilingualism, so as a matter of principal, we also promote multilingualism," Markou said.

Cyprus' 110 secondary schools offer seven languages to their 60,000 students, but Turkish isn't one of them. A combination of lack of interest and the challenge of finding qualified instructors has foiled past attempts to introduce Turkish classes.

Markou said afternoon Turkish classes had long been available at state institutes for further education and at the university, but added few Greek Cypriots had enrolled in the programs.

UN sources said Article 45 was intended to promote better understanding between the conflicting communities by increasing communication, leading to fewer misunderstandings. The precedent has been set by other nations with multiple official languages, such as Canada and Switzerland, where schoolchildren learn each language, the sources said.

The European Union has also encouraged Greeks and Turks to learn each other's languages. In 1997, it funded a two-day international conference on Cypriot, Greek and Turkish literature at London's Middlesex University, where organisers and academics suggested that language study could pave the way towards a better understanding between the communities.

Yet many Greek Cypriots are questioning the practicality of enforcing the study of Turkish, a language spoken by less than 20 per cent of the island's population, at the expense of other lessons. The UN plan does not elaborate on how the integration of Turkish classes would impact the current foreign language curriculum, at what age they would be introduced or for how many years the courses would be mandatory.

In the public schools, English is a compulsory subject from the last three years of primary education through the first four years of secondary school, and French is mandatory for the first four years of secondary school. Afterwards, students may choose to continue studying those languages, or opt to learn Italian, Spanish, German and Russian.

Markou said private schools had a history of some curriculum flexibility, and therefore no one could predict whether the mandate would apply to those students as well.