Deadline gives talks on Cyprus extra urgency

By Leyla Boulton in Ankara and Kerin Hope in Athens Published: October 3 2002 1:14 | Last Updated: October 3 2002

Kofi Annan , the United Nations' secretary-general, will on Thursday pursue one of his trickiest missions: to reunite Cyprus before the European Union takes the potentially explosive decision in December to admit the island as a member.

On Thursday and Friday he will seek to narrow differences between Glafcos Clerides, the Greek Cypriot who is the island's only internationally recognised president, and Rauf Denktas, the leader of the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

If a settlement fails to materialise over the next 2 months, EU leaders considering the next wave of EU enlargement at Copenhagen on December 13-14 would probably agree to admit a divided island, even if that meant excluding the Turkish Cypriot-controlled north.

That in turn would kill off hopes of any settlement and precipitate a crisis in the EU's relationship with Turkey, the Turkish Cypriots' patron and a candidate for membership in its own right.

After nine months of twice-weekly UN-sponsored talks on the island, described by Mr Clerides as "just a debating society", Greek Cypriot officials say that only a new pro-European government in Ankara can persuade Mr Denktash to sign up to a settlement. Although the UN is clearly hoping for some progress before the election, the current hawkish three-party coalition in Ankara would be unlikely to make "concessions" that might be condemned as a sell-out by competing parties in Turkey's election on November 3.

That is one reason why Alvaro de Soto, the UN special envoy for Cyprus, is waiting until after the elections to put before the veteran Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders a draft compromise settlement with the aim of securing at least a framework agreement before the Copenhagen summit.

It will contain detailed proposals on territory and security arrangements, as well as a blueprint for the central government of a new federal republic of Cyprus. But most observers agree that the biggest challenge - even if a more flexible government comes to power in Ankara - will be to find a formula that achieves a new, equal partnership between two communities split by deep distrust.

The Turkish Cypriots recall how they were herded into ghettos after Greek Cypriots unilaterally unpicked power-sharing arrangements inherited at independence from Britain in 1960. The Greek Cypriots dwell on Turkey's 1974 military intervention as the start of an illegal occupation condemned by successive UN resolutions.

"That will not be international recognition [ruled out by UN resolutions] but recognition of equal status, equal legitimacy for the Turkish Cypriots [as previously endorsed by Mr Annan]," said one official.

While sympathetic to such concerns, the UN believes that the gap can be bridged without explicit prior recognition, which is unacceptable to the Greek Cypriots.

The endorsement of a comprehensive settlement by referendums in the Turkish Cypriot north and the Greek Cypriot south would "give the broadest deepest legitimacy" to a "compromise both sides could buy into", says one western diplomat.

Financial Times 03/10/2002

Annan aims at the core issues

By George Psylides


UNITED NATIONS Secretary-general Kofi Annan said yesterday that he was aiming for an agreement at least on the core issues of the Cyprus problem by the end of the year.

Speaking ahead of his meetings with President Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, Annan said that the meetings the UN "would assess what progress has been made since they last met in Paris and what they need to do to accelerate the process.

"We are going to try and do as much as we can do to come to an understanding and bring the talks to a closure, at least come to an agreement on the core issues by the end of the year.

"That is the target," the UN Secretary-general said.

He added: "If we miss that, obviously, we will have to find ways of bringing it to closure beyond that date.

"But I hope we can do it before the end of the year."

Reuters reported last night that diplomats believed a breakthrough was unlikely but the talks could lay the groundwork for a settlement after Turkey's general elections in November, but before December 12, the date when EU leaders gather in Copenhagen to make decisions on enlargement.

Annan met Clerides first who arrived at the meeting without making any statements accompanied by Ambassador Andreas Mavroyiannis.

Denktash met Annan 30 minutes later, flanked by his adviser Elgiun Olgiun.

"If the EU accepts Cyprus the talks are terminated and Cyprus is divided forever," the Turkish Cypriot leader said.

The two leaders have been engaged in UN-sponsored talks since the beginning of the year but have failed to make a breakthrough despite a June deadline.

According to diplomats, Annan has put off tabling a plan because he was reluctant to get embroiled in Turkish politics ahead of the elections, Reuters said.

The diplomats said the plan was likely to be presented in mid-November.

Turkey has warned it will annex the occupied areas if Cyprus joined the EU before a settlement of the problem, albeit probably ruining its own hopes of joining the Union.

Turkey has also warned the EU that it would provoke a crisis if, by the end of the year, it had failed to set a date for starting accession talks.

But according to BBC's on line service, senior EU sources on Wednesday said that the European Commission believes it is impossible to give, even indirectly, a date for Turkey.

"Several commissioners apparently raised serious doubts that Turkey could ever become a member of the EU," the BBC report said.

"Some commissioners have reportedly compared Turkey to Morocco or Ukraine in terms of suitability for membership."

CYPRUS MAIL 04/10/2002

 

Denktash meets Annan despite heart problem

RAUF Denktash's meeting with UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan in New York went ahead yesterday despite the Turkish Cypriot leader having been admitted to hospital on Wednesday after he complained of feeling unwell.


All the meetings Denktash has scheduled with international envoys for Cyprus had to be cancelled after he underwent an angiogram and was ordered to rest for the remainder of the day, Turkish Cypriot press reports said yesterday.

'TRNC Foreign Ministry Undersecretary' Ergun Olgun told reporters Denktash was stable and he was resting at his hotel.

Opposition newspaper Afrika said yesterday that Denktash was using his heart problems as "the last trump card to gain some time".

In February this year Denktash, 78, announced that he might have to undergo heart surgery within the year. He said at the time that his diagnosis had coincided with his decision to ask President Glafcos Clerides to resume face-to-face talks.

He said doctors had found a blockage of his aorta and wanted to correct a heart valve problem. He said he felt fine but that he had had a few problems during previous months. He said he was told by doctors in Ankara and Istanbul that it would be better for him to undergo surgery before getting too old.

Denktash, who has a history of heart trouble, said doctors had told him he needed to lose up to 15 kilos. He suffered a heart attack in 1996 and had surgery a year later. He was also later diagnosed with diabetes and was put on a strict diet.

CYPRUS MAIL 04/10/2002

 

More Turkish Cypriots favour federation as a solution

A NEW opinion poll in the north shows that 35.5 per cent of Turkish Cypriots support a bizonal, bicommunal federation as a solution to the Cyprus problem.


Support for a federation was up from 31.7 per cent two years ago but down 12 per cent on 1997, when 47.6 favoured a federal solution. In 1999 only 28.2 per cent of Turkish Cypriots would have said 'yes' to a federation.

The least favoured option for Turkish Cypriots was the idea of being integrated with Turkey, a threat Ankara has pledged to carry out if Cyprus joins the European Union without a prior solution to the Cyprus problem.

Only 5.1 per cent of Turkish Cypriots would favour annexation compared with 7.7 per cent in 2000, 8.2 per cent in 1999 and 11.5 per cent in 1997. This change in attitude can be ascribed to the continuing fall in the standard of living in the north and the recent economic crisis in Turkey, which have all prompted Turkish Cypriots to increasingly favour becoming part of a Cyprus that will join the EU.

Support for a single united state in Cyprus is still low, however, with only 8.6 per cent favouring this option, although the figure is up from 5.3 per cent two years ago. Support for a confederation has also fallen dramatically from 27.2 per cent in 2000 to only 11.8 per cent this year.

CYPRUS MAIL 04/10/2002