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UN envoy cautions against haste in Cyprus talks
UN envoy Alexander Downer said on Tuesday that Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Derviş Eroğlu need to “take time and get it right” because any accord must be approved by both communities in separate referendums.
Cyprus was ethnically split in 1974 when Turkey's militarily intervened after a coup staged by supporters of a union with Greece.
Friday marks the second anniversary of the start of the UN-mediated negotiations that have produced limited progress, primarily on governance and a power-sharing deal under an envisioned federal system.
However, a wide gulf separates the two sides on other difficult issues, such as arrangements on private property lost during the war, the fate of 35,000 Turkish troops stationed in the north and the right of the Turkish military to intervene.
“There needs to be an agreement and it needs to be implemented successfully,” Downer said after Christofias and Eroğlu met at the now-defunct Nicosia airport inside a UN-controlled buffer zone.
“Both sides have to be able to sell it to the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities respectively,” he said.
Downer's remarks followed Eroğlu's earlier references to an end-of-year negotiations deadline. The envoy said the UN is pleased that Christofias and Eroğlu remain “very committed” to achieving an agreement. The two leaders agreed to hold intensive, day-long talks on Sept. 7 and 10, Downer added.
Numerous rounds of UN-sponsored negotiations in over three decades have ended in failure and observers think that another collapse could prompt the UN to abandon its mediation role, possibly leading to the island's permanent partition.
“It is clear, subject to a massive change of heart on both sides of the divide, that the United Nations will not be prepared to devote time to the Cyprus problem again if the current process fails,” said Tim Potier, co-head of the University of Nicosia's law department.
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