President: Constructive approach at UN meeting
PRESIDENT Mustafa Akıncı pledged a “constructive approach” for a meeting with UN SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres due to take place in New York last night.
Confidence-building measures were to be among many issues taken up at the meeting — originally scheduled for today but brought forward at Mr Guterres’s request — following talks also due to take place yesterday between the UN chief and Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades on the sidelines of the world body’s 73rd General Assembly.
Speaking at Ercan airport on Tuesday en route to the US, where he has since met European Union foreign minister Federica Mogherini, Mr Akıncı said yesterday’s contacts — the first with Mr Guterres since peace talks collapsed in Switzerland in July last year — would take place in “a different climate”.
He said “temporary” envoy Jane Holl Lute was expected to report to Mr Guterres on her own contacts with “involved parties”, but the UN chief would “want to listen to our thoughts concerning the future” in order to make his own evaluations.
Greek Cypriot media reported “low-seeming expectations” of a “new dynamic” on Cyprus following a lunch the same day between the island’s three guarantor powers, Turkey, the UK and Greece — after which Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu declared that it would be “meaningless” to start Cyprus negotiations “for the sake of it”.
Speaking to journalists on Thursday, Mr Çavuşoğlu said: “From now, in order to start new negotiations, we have to know what we are negotiating for, why we are negotiating . . . No-one can stomach a new failure.”
Assessing the guarantors’ encounter, Mr Akıncı cautioned: “Whilst it would be wrong to pump up hope that has no basis . . . it would be just as wrong to always paint a dark picture . . .
“Every type of dialogue will be beneficial . . . [but] the work does not start and finish here. The founders and implementers of any solution will be the Turkish Cypriots and the Greek Cypriots.”
He told reporters: “We are going to New York with a constructive spirit, with the desire of reaching a reasonable . . . compromise.
“It is clear that both communities will be negatively affected in the event of the continuation of a non-solution.”
However he underlined that the previous “era” of open-ended negotiating processes “has come to an end”.
“It has become necessary for there to be a timetable and a results-oriented process . . . and for there to be political will and determination.”
Among issues expected to be raised at last night’s meeting, Mr Akıncı cited “confidence-creating measures”, saying the Turkish Cypriots were “right behind” them and expected this to be reciprocated.
He expressed disappointment that cooperation on planned measures including new border crossings and mobile phone, internet and electricity connections had not come to fruition, but said “turning back from a loss at any point is a gain”.
Controversy over hydrocarbons explorations off the coasts of Cyprus is also expected to be on the agenda, and Mr Akıncı declared as “beneficial to all sides” the potential for progress on peace while cooperating on natural gas reserves — “which is also our [Turkish Cypriot] right” — and giving “fresh impetus to TurkeyEU relations”.
He criticised the Greek Cypriots for “unilateral” hydrocarbon explorations, “as though the Turkish Cypriots and Turkey don’t exist”, and “placing obstacles in the way of Turkey’s EU process”.
Tensions over Cyprus and issues in the Aegean were raised in an hour-long meeting at the UN on Tuesday between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who was reported to have told Mr Erdoğan that talks “need to resume from where they left off” in Switzerland last July.
NICOS Anastasiades, addressing the UN assembly on Thursday, said he was “deeply concerned” about the lapse of time following the end of peace talks in Crans-Montana last summer, and called on Turkey to “rise to the occasion” and demonstrate the necessary determination to reach a settlement and “concretely contribute to regional stability”.