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Christofias says will not seek re-election if no deal
“I will not seek a second term if there is no solution to the Cyprus problem by the end of my presidency,” Christofias told a news conference.
“The talks have not yielded what we expected, until today,” said Christofias. Of the issues discussed, there was most convergence on issues of governance, and the least in property disputes, he said.
Upon his arrival in Ankara on Wednesday, Talat had talks with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and State Minister and chief EU negotiator Egemen Bağış. On Thursday, he also met with President Abdullah Gül. The meetings were all closed to the press, except for the one with Bağış.
Talat said he had discussed with Turkish officials the possibility of a conference on Cyprus to be held by Spain, the current term president of the EU, but didn’t elaborate any further.
There is a “Greek [Cypriot] obsession” on holding such conferences, Talat, added.
“If the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot sides take part in a meeting that is participated in by Turkey, Greece and the UN, then the Turkish Cypriot side is upgraded to the status of a state: the Greek [Cypriot]s reject this principally because of this obsession.”
In early March, Greek Cypriot media reported that Spain had been making preparations to hold a conference on Cyprus before April 18, with participation of the guarantor powers of the divided island of Cyprus.
Greece, Turkey and former colonial ruler Britain are guarantor powers of Cyprus’ independence agreement of 1960 -- giving them the right to intervene militarily if the terms of that agreement are threatened. Yet, during a visit to Greek Cyprus last week, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos denied that Spain had tabled any initiative for an international conference on Cyprus.
“However, numerous reports as well as [UN Special Advisor Alexander] Downer’s own statements suggest that Spain has been trying to bring all sides together to agree on the right format for such a meeting. It appears the stumbling block is the government’s own fears that an international meeting which includes Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat would help to upgrade the breakaway regime in the north while undermining the Republic of Cyprus,” English-language daily the Cyprus Mail said on Tuesday, reporting on a statement released by Downer’s press office.
The statement said reports suggesting that Downer had called for a “quintet summit” or five-party talks to discuss the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee were “false.”
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