Leaders hold talk on Cyprus reunification

The leaders of Cyprus’s rival Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities were meeting today to try to clear up disagreements which have strained attempts to reunify the ethnically divided island.

Cyprus President Dimitris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat agreed in March to restart long-stalled reunification talks. Mr Christofias’s election in February, replacing a hard-liner, rekindled hopes that the decades-old division of Cyprus could finally be resolved.

However, the initial optimism has been replaced by concern, with Greek Cypriots worried about the lack of progress before the scheduled start of direct negotiations between Mr Talat and Mr Christofias in late June.

Mr Christofias arrived first for the meeting, being held at the official residence of the UN representative in Cyprus, in the UN-controlled buffer zone near Nicosia’s disused airport. Mr Talat arrived a few minutes later.

Mr Christofias will seek reassurances that the Turkish Cypriots and Turkey are not aiming for a two-state settlement which would formally split the island instead of the long-standing agreement for a loose bi-zonal, bi-communal federation.

Such fears among Greek Cypriots stem from an April 24 statement by Turkey’s National Security Council referring to a solution “based on the realities on the island and on the existence of two separate peoples and two democracies”.

Cyprus has been split along ethnic lines since 1974, when Turkey invaded in response to an abortive coup by supporters of union with Greece. More than three decades of negotiations have failed to produce a lasting result.

In a bid to ensure these negotiations are successful, working groups from the two sides have been trying to narrow differences before the June talks. In their meeting, Mr Christofias and Mr Talat are to review what progress they have made.

The Cyprus government has complained of a lack of progress, especially on the more contentious issues such as security, and has said direct negotiations between the two leaders cannot start without some positive movement.

However, Mr Talat has said direct talks will begin in June regardless of whether the groups have made any headway, unless one side backs out.

Yesterday, Mr Talat’s spokesman, Hasan Ercakica, said “it would be wrong” to claim that no progress has been made. He dismissed a two-state solution and reiterated Turkish Cypriot support for a federated Cyprus.

Another major sticking point so far has been whether any new peace deal would be modelled on a UN reunification plan that Turkish Cypriots accepted but Greek Cypriots rejected in 2004.

Political analyst Hubert Faustmann said the government interprets a perceived lack of progress as Turkish and Turkish Cypriot unwillingness to shift away from the UN blueprint.

Greek Cypriots saw the plan as compromising their security by granting Turkey intervention rights and a permanent military presence on the island.

“The question now is how willing are the Turkish Cypriots to move away from the (UN) plan... Are they willing to re-negotiate a deal?” said Mr Faustmann, a political science professor at Nicosia University.

By the same token, Greek Cypriots should accept that the plan is not “a document that dropped out of the sky” and must demonstrate flexibility and a willingness to compromise, he said