‘Open-ended settlement process unthinkable’
IT IS “unthinkable” to embark on a fresh quest for a Cyprus settlement that “will last another 50 years”, President Mustafa Akıncı said this week — and hinted that the United Nations is similarly reluctant as he prepares to meet its head.
Receiving visiting head of the Turkish Grand National Assembly foreign affairs commission Volkan Bozkır on Monday, Mr Akıncı said the Turkish side opposed resumption of an “open-ended process” following the collapse of peace talks in Crans-Montana, Switzerland last July.
And he commented: “UN peacekeepers came to the island for three months [in 1964]. Now they themselves have began to question how much longer they will remain on the island . . .
“The UN SecretaryGeneral has implied that [he], too, is not warm to the idea of having an openended process.
“The UN wants to see an end to this . . . but has become a part of the problem rather than being the vehicle to solve the problem.”
Mr Akıncı’s judgement of the UN mood appeared to be backed by his Greek Cypriot counterpart, Nicos Anastasiades, who told reporters “failure” in a new round of peace talks would “completely change the basis of dialogue”.
He added that he did not believe sufficient progress had been made to “encourage the UN Secretary-General to undertake a new initiative or to convene a new conference on Cyprus”.
Greek Cypriot negotiator Andreas Mavroyiannis warned last week that there was “no guarantee that the island’s Unficyp peacekeeping force would remain after its current mandate expires in January, and “a hell of a lot of work” was needed to prove it was vital to reunification efforts.
The two leaders are expected to meet UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres separately in New York on September 29.
The TRNC president said he believed the Greek Cypriots had realised the changing atmosphere, and predicted “their new mentality and transformation” would emerge during Mr Anastasiades’s talks with Mr Guterres.
Mr Akıncı had a preparatory meeting on Tuesday with UN representative Elizabeth Spehar at the Presidency, after which Ms Spehar commented that the island’s leaders had not held talks for over a year, and the UN was “waiting for the sides to return to the negotiating table”.
Mr Akıncı, who made no comment after the meeting, said during his contacts with Mr Bozkır that it was “out of the question” for Turkish Cypriots to “become a minority on an island to be administered by the Greek Cypriots”.
“The Turkish Cypriots were not characterised as a minority in the 1960 agreements either but, on the contrary, were a partner of the newly formed state; one of the two main elements,” he said, adding that “it is this that is not being absorbed” by the Greek Cypriots.
“They see the island as being for themselves; moreover they wanted to unite the island with Greece. This was not possible, and hence it never happened.”
Mr Akıncı said the Turkish side had always worked for peace, but had been subject to “great injustice” — including in 2004, when the Turkish Cypriots had said “yes” to the Annan peace plan referendum, but the Greek Cypriots had become members of the EU despite saying “no”.
Speaking at a separate event on the same day he said they had again proved their desire for a solution at Swiss peace talks last year, and their belief in this aim was intact despite “experiences gained in 50 years of the Cyprus problem”.
“We will continue our efforts. I hope [these] will be reciprocated and that we can take a new step forward.”