Cyprus political settlement ‘in reach,’ Annan says following breakthrough in talks
More than 40 years after the United Nations first became involved in the Cyprus problem, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today said a settlement is “in reach” after the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders committed to his plan to reunify the island nation ahead of its entry into the European Union (EU).
Talks on the basis of Mr. Annan’s settlement plan will reconvene on 19 February in Cyprus, according to a statement agreed to by the two parties and Greece and Turkey after marathon talks at UN Headquarters in New York. The results of the negotiations will then be submitted to separate and simultaneous referenda in April before Cyprus is slated to formally join the EU on 1 May.
“I commend the constructive spirit and political will displayed by both parties, as well as by Greece and Turkey, to reach this agreement,” the Secretary-General said at a press conference announcing the breakthrough, which came after a negotiating session that lasted until 3 a.m. Friday. “All concerned now face historic responsibilities to bring about a just and lasting peace in Cyprus.”
Since Tuesday, the Greek Cypriot leader, Tassos Papadopoulos, and the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktash, have been meeting with Mr. Annan at UN Headquarters in New York. Also present for the talks were the guarantor nations – Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
In Cyprus, the parties will seek to finalize negotiations under the Secretary-General’s mission of good offices – headed by his Special Adviser, Alvaro de Soto – by 22 March. If they fail to agree, Mr. Annan will then convene a meeting of the two sides along with Greece and Turkey in an effort to agree on a final text by 29 March.
As a last resort, the Secretary-General has been invited by the parties to use his discretion to finalize the text to be submitted to referenda on the basis of his plan.
The parties also agreed today to form a technical committee on the economic and financial aspects of implementation, to be chaired by the UN.
“A lot of hard work is still needed, and there are still tough questions ahead. But if all concerned show the same courage and goodwill during the next three months that they have shown in the last three days, I believe there is now a real chance that, before the first of May, Cyprus will be reunited,” Mr. Annan said.
Mr. de Soto, asked by reporters about the Secretary-General’s role in the event that talks between the two parties are unable to finalize text, said, “It is very much our hope that the parties will be able to agree in the initial stages and if, failing that, it is necessary to put in motion this mechanism which includes Greece and Turkey, we devoutly hope that it will be solved at that stage.”
Only as a last resort would the Secretary-General, “with some reluctance,” assume the responsibility that the parties have entrusted to him because after he completes the text it would go to referendum, he added.
Mr. de Soto said while the timetable for entry into the EU may have had something to do with today’s development, he was more convinced than ever “that there is a consciousness on the part of all the leaders concerned that the Cyprus problem needs to be resolved on its merits simply because it should not be allowed to fester.”
“We have the impression that this time there is a different mindset and that negotiations should work much better than what transpired in the previous three-and-a-half years,” he added.
As for the importance of the referendum in the process, Mr. de Soto said not only was it significant but it is “decisive, because ultimately it is the people, it is the Cypriots themselves, who are going to decide whether this settlement is going to come about.
Video of the press briefing