UN Secretary General’s Special Advisor for Cyprus
Alexander Downer has stressed that the Cyprus talks must continue on the
basis of the UN parameters.
Downer, who held a meeting Monday in the Turkish occupied areas of Cyprus
with new Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu, said he hoped that
negotiations would resume before the beginning of June.
On Tuesday morning,
the UN official will be received by President of the Republic of Cyprus
Demetris Christorfias.
“I made it clear that the UN position is that the talks must be on the basis
of the UN parameters, particularly as defined in the UN Security Council
resolutions and the agreements, letters, statements between Christofias and
Talat of 23rd May and 1st July”, he told reporters.
Downer said that the UN want the talks to build on the convergences that
have already been achieved, and “not go back to the very beginning”.
“Eroglu has made it clear that he is happy for the talks to proceed on that
basis”, he went on to say.
He stated that the momentum needs to be put back into negotiations and
reiterated that the process cannot go forever, adding that there is not a
specific time line.
Downer, who is planning to go Turkey before the end of May, said that the UN
have not specified any timelines, adding that the process can’t be allowed
to drag on.
The UN, he said, have worked very hard to help the process, have invested a
lot of time, a lot of energy, a lot of money and want it to be successful.
Reiterating that “this is an agreement within reach”, he said that dragging
out the negotiations indefinitely is not an option.
Replying to questions, he said he would like to see the talks get underway
before the beginning of June, during the course of May.
Asked about Eroglu’s statements for a solution based on two separate
‘states’ and two separate ‘peoples’, he said that he went through the issue
with Eroglu adding that negotiations aim to achieve a bi-zonal, bi-communal
federation with political equality and single international personality.
The UN official said that Eroglu agrees that this is the basis on which
negotiations can continue.
In his statements later on, Eroglu said they have agreed to resume
negotiations, adding that most probably negotiations can start on 26 May,
which is a UN proposal.
Replying to a question, he said that he will go to Ankara before the
resumption of the negotiations, adding that Downer will also visit Ankara on
24th of May.
Invited to comment on Downer’s statement that he has accepted to continue
the negotiations on the basis of the UN parameters and the 23rd of May and
1st of July agreements, Eroglu referred journalists to the letter he had
sent to UNSG, saying that he is committed by the content of that letter and
will continue negotiations in the line of the letter.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its
northern third.
President Christofias and former Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat
began in September 2008 UN-led talks for a mutually agreed settlement to the
problem of a divided Cyprus.
The process was interrupted on March 30 because of the
so-called elections for a new leader that were won by Dervis Eroglu, known
for his long-held lack of enthusiasm for unification.