Cyprus: UN envoy refutes media claims of call for special summit

The United Nations official tasked with steering negotiations between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders on the Mediterranean island’s unification has not called for a so-called “quintet summit” to discuss the 1960 pact guaranteeing Cyprus’ sovereignty, contrary to some recent media reports.

According to a press release issued by the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), Alexander Downer, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser, has not called for five-party talks, including the UN, to confer on the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee.

That pact – bringing together Cyprus, Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom – guaranteed the basic provisions of the Constitution of the Republic, which went into force shortly after Cyprus became independent, as well as its territorial integrity.

Mr. Downer, UNFICYP said, “has never made such a call and it is unfortunate that this inaccurate reporting went unchecked.”

It added that the Special Adviser “recalls that the question of security and guarantees will be discussed as part of the ongoing peace talks, which are being led by the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders.”

In an opinion column published in the Khaleej Times earlier this year, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted that the people of both of Cyprus’ communities want a solution now to end the division of the island, urging the leaders to reach a settlement to end the decades of separation.

“As a Korean, I know only too well the pain of a land divided. I also know how difficult reconciliation can be,” Mr. Ban wrote following his recent visit to the country. “That is why I went to Cyprus – to show my personal support for the efforts to reunify the island, and to push for further progress.”

Reiterating that Cyprus is at a critical juncture, he noted that although both the Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart Mehmet Ali Talat are working hard to reach an agreement, “it will elude them without a further concentrated push.”

He observed that there are sceptics, critics and those who seek to divert or derail the process in pursuit of their own interests and agendas, and that courage and conviction will be required of leaders to do what they know to be right.

In 2008, Mr. Christofias and Mr. Talat committed themselves to working towards “a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation with political equality, as defined by relevant Security Council resolution.”

That partnership would comprise a federal government with a single international personality, along with a Turkish Cypriot Constituent State and a Greek Cypriot Constituent State, which would be of equal status.

In December, the Security Council extended by six months the mandate of UNFICYP, which was set up in 1964 to prevent further fighting between the communities. After hostilities erupted again in 1974, its responsibilities were expanded to supervise ceasefire lines, maintain a buffer zone and undertake humanitarian activities.