Not a great start: faulty fax machines and secret retractions mar negotiation foundations

THE U.N. received a lesson in what power sharing in a united Cyprus might hold in store yesterday, when efforts to co-ordinate the two sides' replies to the Secretary-general were plunged into farce due to an allegedly broken fax machine.

Waiting since last Saturday for each side's response to the plan, UN special envoy Alvaro de Soto was forced to visit President Glafcos Clerides early yesterday morning to return the Greek Cypriot side's sealed reply, submitted late on Wednesday night after assurances that the Turkish side would do the same.

Clerides asked for the document to be returned after it emerged that the Turkish Cypriot side had failed to send its reply, supposedly because their fax in New York had broken down.

The UN said yesterday it had protested to the Turkish side, which later apologised.

Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash is in New York recovering from heart surgery and officials said yesterday the time difference had contributed to the overnight fiasco.

The explanation was rubbished yesterday by Greek Government Spokesman Christos Protopapas, who branded it a Denktash delaying tactic.

"Denktash has totally exposed himself to the world community with his shilly-shallying. they hide a refusal to begin substantial negotiations for a Cyprus settlement," he told reporters.

Greece, Turkey, and the international community are racing to have an initial agreement signed before the EU summit on December 12 in Copenhagen.

A truncated, three-page reply was eventually submitted by Denktash at around 11.30am New York time (6.30pm local) yesterday. A more detailed response was subsequently handed by the Greek Cypriot side.

First news of the earlier confusion emerged yesterday morning when Government Spokesman Michalis Papapetrou read out a written statement from Clerides expressing regret over the incident and criticising what he termed the delaying tactics of the Turkish Cypriot side.

He said that on November 29, President Clerides had informed De Soto that he was ready to give "the comments, suggestions or requests of the Greek Cypriot side as soon as he was informed that Mr Denktash would do the same".

Reading the statement, Papapetrou said that on Wednesday at 10.30 pm, De Soto called Clerides to say the Turkish side was going to give its reply by 11.15pm. Half an hour later, at around 11 pm, De Soto telephoned again and said the Turkish side was going to hand its reply in New York at 11.30pm, Cyprus time.

"Therefore, in the light of all these assurances, the Greek Cypriot side's reply was handed to Mr de Soto at 11.48 pm, in line with the agreement that the documents would be handed simultaneously," the spokesman said.

"This morning, at around 8.50am (local time), De Soto contacted Undersecretary to the President Pantelis Kouros and informed him that, unfortunately, the Turkish side had not given its reply, and asked that President Clerides be informed on the development." Papapetrou said Clerides immediately instructed Kouros to ask De Soto to return the Greek Cypriot side's document, which happened at 9.30 am.

"I think that anyone, but also the UN Secretary-general, can draw conclusions from this behaviour of the Turkish Cypriot side," the spokesman added.

Asked why the Turkish Cypriot side had failed to send its reply, Papapetrou said: "They cited technical reasons with their fax machine and said their reply would be given in the next few hours."

"The Greek Cypriot side has been faced with similar delaying tactics for 28 years", the spokesman added. "What we are seeking is to bend the Turkish intransigence and to enter into a negotiation with good will in order to overcome the difficulties."

To compound the farce, Attorney-general Alecos Markides revealed that both he and Clerides had been informed yesterday morning that both sides had sent in their replies late on Wednesday night. Both were unaware that the Turkish side had failed to deliver.

"The file was given by the Secretariat of the Presidential Palace to the UN at 11.45pm last night according to the assurances of Mr De Soto that at the same time they were receiving the positions of Mr Denktash in New York. That is 4.45pm New York time," Markides said making it clear that De Soto's conversation had not been with Clerides but with Kouros.

A statement from UNFICYP yesterday said they had protested to the Turkish Cypriot side, which apologised "through the United Nations to the Greek Cypriot side".

The statement said the Turkish Cypriot side had cited technical reasons and that the handover would be slightly delayed. "Later, by then 2am in Nicosia, the United Nations was informed that delivery would only be made the following morning in New York," the UN statement said. "Accordingly the envelope was returned to the Greek Cypriot side. having been kept in confidence in the interval."

The Turkish Cypriot response is expected to focus on objections to proposals concerning property, sovereignty, Turkey's guarantor rights, and territory. Reports on the Greek Cypriot side said Clerides' response would ask that a provision for a three-year joint presidency for the signatories to an agreement be reduced to six months, that military forces on both sides be limited to 3,000 each, a significant reduction in the timetable for resettlement, and for the number of Turkish settlers who could remain on the island not to exceed 35,000, instead of the 110,000 who now live in the north. He has also included a new map that would allow 100,000 instead of 85,000 Greek Cypriot refugees to return to their homes without the need to ask the Turkish side for additional territory.

CYPRUS MAIL 06//12/2002

Proximity talks may begin tomorrow

PROXIMITY TALKS for the settlement of the Cyprus problem could start as soon as tomorrow after both sides last night handed their replies to the United Nations outlining the points they wished to change in the solution plan.

The Greek Cypriot side handed over its reply to UN envoy Alvaro de Soto's representative at around 9pm and after it had been confirmed in writing that the Turkish Cypriot side had given its reply to a UN representative in New York.

The Greek Cypriot side had given its reply late on Wednesday night but asked for it back yesterday morning after they discovered the Turkish Cypriot side had failed to honour its side of the deal to submit the replies simultaneously.

The Turkish Cypriot side later apologised and blamed the delay on technical problems.

The Turkish Cypriot response, a three-page document accompanied by a letter, was handed to the UN at 6.30pm (Cyprus time) by the representative of the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state Osman Ertug.

Asked whether the reply was positive, Ertug said "We have already given our positive reply".

"The UN Secretary-general did not want us to say yes or no; he was asking the two sides to say what they thought should be amended on his document.

"And this is exactly what we have done," Ertug added.

But according to reports, Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, in his reply, did not include any suggestions, as the UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan had asked, but only listed the points he wished to see changed.

Undersecretary to the president Pantelis Kouros, who handed over the reply to de Soto said he imagined the UN would now study the replies and then give each side the other side's positions.

Kouros added that he had asked the UN for written assurances that the Turkish Cypriot side had given its reply, which he got in the form of a letter from de Soto.

Government Spokesman Michalis Papapetrou told the Cyprus Mail last night that in its reply the Greek Cypriot side in some cases listed the points while in others it made suggestions on how they should be changed.

"We had to decide whether we wanted to respond to the letter or not," Papapetrou said.

He added: "If Denktash gave only the points it means he did not respond."

This development opened the way for the UN to push for negotiations on the plan as early as Saturday, reports said.

The same reports said that the UN would be engaging the two sides in intensive rounds of proximity talks in order to have some form of agreement before the Copenhagen summit on December 12.

But UN hopes to kick off talks could be dashed if Denktash fails to return today.

The Turkish Cypriot leader is scheduled to be examined in hospital at around 5.30pm after which, if all goes well, he would board a direct flight to Cyprus.

Clerides to go it alone in Copenhagen

THE NATIONAL Council will not be accompanying the President to the European summit in Copenhagen, House president Demetris Christofias said yesterday.

Speaking after a meeting with party leaders and representatives, Christofias said party leaders would not be going to Copenhagen, where the European Union would be taking its final decisions concerning enlargement.

It was not clear who floated the idea but DISY and the United Democrats were in favour of accompanying the President. KISOS did not take a stance because its leader was absent in London while ADIK said it would go if everyone else did.

DIKO and AKEL, as well as the two one-seat parties New Horizons and the Greens disagreed with the suggestion, reports said.

The main argument was that no pressure could be exerted on Clerides to sign or agree to anything if the national council were absent since the President would have to confer with them.

Clerides has already made it clear he was not planning to engage in any substantial negotiations over the UN blueprint in Copenhagen.

Christofias said it would be impossible for the President to sign any solution when he was bound by the national council's decision that negotiations were necessary before any agreement.

DIKO leader Tassos Papadopoulos noted that Clerides was going to Copenhagen for the island's accession into the EU and not to negotiate a settlement of the Cyprus problem and that was why the national council was not accompanying him.

The presence of the council in Copenhagen "could have given the message to some that we are gong there ready to negotiate", Papadopoulos added.

But other reports said that opposition parties, who fear there would be negative developments in Copenhagen, did not want to bear any responsibility for anything that happens concerning the island's accession or the settlement of the Cyprus problem.

The only party leader who would be in Copenhagen is DISY's Nicos Anastassiades who would be attending the European Popular Party conference.
CYPRUS MAIL 06//12/2002

Exhumations to identify Turkish victims of 1974 Alaminos gun battle

EXPLORATORY digging is underway at Alaminos village in the Larnaca district to locate and identify the bodies of Turkish Cypriots killed in a gun battle with the Greek Cypriot National Guard on July 20, 1974.

During the incident, 19 people were reportedly killed, including 14 Turkish Cypriots, and were buried by Greek Cypriot villagers. The Turkish Cypriots' names are included on the list of 500 Turkish Cypriot missing.

The exhumations are being conducted by the international organisation "Physicians for Human Rights."

A Foreign Ministry press release said the digging was part of the Cyprus government's efforts to investigate the fate of the missing persons.

"The whole procedure has a humanitarian nature and aims at respecting the rights of the families to be informed, with credible evidence, of the fate of their loved ones and return the scientifically established remains of each missing for a dignified burial, according to their religious traditions," the statement said.

A 1997 agreement on the issue of missing persons, signed by President Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, provides for the exhumation of remains in the government-controlled southern part of Cyprus and the Republic's northern areas occupied by Turkish troops since 1974.

In the summer of 1999, the government of Cyprus embarked on a process of exhumation and identification of remains in two local cemeteries.

The process of identification through the DNA method continues with a view to identify, if possible, all exhumed remains.

The Alaminos exhumations are due to be completed on Saturday.
CYPRUS MAIL 06//12/2002