ELITSA VUCHEVA
Today @ 17:27 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat on Wednesday (10 September) expressed optimism about the in-depth talks on the reunification of Cyprus formally due to start tomorrow, saying he hoped that a solution for the divided island can be found at the latest by June next year.
“All the elements of the Cyprus problem are known, so it is possible to solve [it] by the end of this year,” says Mr Talat (Photo: European Commission)
“My vision was to finish the negotiations by the end of this year and I believe it is possible,” Mr Talat said at a conference organised by the Brussels-based European Policy Centre think-tank.
“All the elements of the Cyprus problem are known, so it is possible to solve [it]” by the end of 2008, or at the latest, “before the election of the European Parliament, meaning June 2009.”
“Hopefully, we will do it,” he added.
Cyprus – an EU member since 2004 – has been independent since 1960 and divided since a Turkish invasion of the island’s northern part in 1974, triggered by a Greek-inspired coup.
Currently Northern Cyprus – or the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus – is only recognised internationally by Turkey.
The Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders last week launched formal talks on reunifying their island, and good personal relations between them have prompted high expectations regarding the outcome.
In-depth UN-mediated negotiations on power-sharing are to start tomorrow, but although Mr Talat has on several occasions expressed hopes that a deal could be reached by the end of the year, his Greek Cypriot counterpart has refused to commit to a timeframe.
The EU’s role
Mr Talat said the EU could also contribute to these talks and play a role for their positive outcome, as “ending this problem would contribute to the very meaning of the EU and European integration.”
“We need technical assistance from the EU … to prepare a durable settlement within the European system,” he underlined.
“Of course we cannot ask for political assistance, since the EU does not have – as the United Nations – a huge accumulated knowledge regarding the Cyprus problem.”
“[Additionally], Greek Cypriots are members of the EU and Turkish Cypriots are out, so the EU cannot be impartial. This is a matter of fact. [But] we need technical assistance from the EU,” Mr Talat said.
Turkish Cypriots are also hoping the EU can “encourage Greek Cypriots towards a solution, because there are actually very few incentives for [them] to solve the problem.”
After they joined the EU, “they lost their incentives,” unlike Turkish Cypriots, who need the solution “deadlily,” the Turkish Cypriot leader pointed out.
Negotiations on the table need to be ‘off the air’
From the Turkish Cypriot point of view, any kind of agreement – possibly setting out a substantially decentralised state – should reflect the fact that “Cyprus is the home of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots” and highlight the “political equality” between them as a “crucial” point.
It should also include safeguards that “neither side can claim jurisdiction over the other” and be put to separate but simultaneous referendums in the two parts of the island.
For his part, Demetris Christofias, the Greek Cypriot leader, would prefer to have a more centralised federation, worried that substantial autonomy for the north could leave the door open to partition.
But Mr Talat expressed confidence that through negotiations, they “will be able to succeed in really bridging the different views and solving the problems.”
He also appealed to his Greek Cypriot counterpart to be more moderate in his comments to the media, insisting that what is still a matter of negotiations should be discussed privately.
“Exchange of views or negotiations through media is an impossible task … I know that leftists speak too much, so they may not be able to stop talking,” he said jokingly referring to Mr Christofias – currently the only communist president of an EU member state.
“But please, try. Don’t put your views through the media,” he added.
