Akıncı: Talks won’t resume
TALKS to solve the “Cyprus problem” will not resume, President Mustafa Akıncı said on Monday, following his first meeting with Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades for nine months.
The two men met in the UN buffer zone for a “social dinner”, having not seen each other since “historic” negotiations in CransMontana, Switzerland, involving the UN, EU, Turkey, Greece and the UK, ended in acrimony last July.
Speaking to reporters following his return from the threeand-a-half hour meeting, a disappointed Mr Akıncı said: “A new situation has not emerged. The sides are continuing to maintain the same position as was in Crans-Montana.”
He added: “We have not observed a distinct difference in the approach of the Greek Cypriot side.”
Mr Akıncı said the chat had been “an opportunity to determine what was our view for the future” which was “necessary and had to be done”.
He continued: “Nothing can be the same as it was in the past. The process which ended at Crans-Montana also yielded many lessons from which both sides should benefit, whilst looking to the future.
“We definitely do not have the intention . . . of getting trapped in the same methods or procedures. I want to say this clearly and firmly: that is going back to where we were in CransMontana . . . [would be] going round and round the same issues.”
“The procedure from now on will be within a framework of a ‘package’ that is not [an] openended [process] and will be taken up with a strategic approach.”
Mr Akıncı said he had also warned Mr Anastasiades about “what can happen from this point onwards” if the Greek Cypriot side continued in its bid to unilaterally exploit the island’s offshore resources.
In his statement to reporters, he added that long-awaited new border crossings would be “ready” at Derinya, near Gazimağusa, on July 1 and at Aplıç, near Lefke, on September 15.
A brief statement from Deputy Special Representative and head of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, Elizabeth Spehar, who hosted the dinner, said the leaders had had a “frank and open exchange of views” during their “tête-à-tête discussion”, without providing any further details.
Unification supporters from both sides of the divide staged a protest during the leaders’ meeting, calling for them to “live up to their expectations for peace in Cyprus”.
Mr Akıncı said he was waiting to see if there would be “an initiative by [UN SecretaryGeneral Antonio] Guterres on this in the coming days”.
UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said in New York that he was “not in a position to talk about an announcement” — dismissing earlier reports that UN Undersecretary-General for Political Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo could be appointed as the next special envoy to Cyprus.
The post has remained vacant since Espen Barth Eide, now an MP in Norway, quit last year.
Right-wing MPs in the TRNC voiced criticism of Mr Akıncı’s decision to meet again with Mr Anastasiades.
“The Guterres framework is designed to end the existence of the TRNC and Turkey’s guarantee, which serves the interests of the Greek-Greek Cypriot [side],” deputy parliamentary Speaker Zorlu Töre, of the National Unity Party, said.
“This cannot be a document that shapes the framework of a solution.”
Meanwhile leaders of political parties in South Cyprus called for the National Council to be convened to “discuss the outcome of the dinner meeting”.
BRITISH Prime Minister Theresa May hosted Nicos Anastasiades at Downing Street on Tuesday, on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in London.
Mr Anastasiades said it had been “very useful”, adding that he had “informed her” about the previous night’s dinner and asked the UK to intervene “in ending Turkey’s illegal actions”.
Meanwhile, outgoing British High Commissioner Matthew Kidd urged both leaders to “start the peace process quickly”. In an interview, he said the UK was “ready” to resume its role in the negotiating process and in a reconvened international Cyprus summit.