A wide view of Shanidar Cave in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. UN Photo/Bikem Ekberzade
22 March 2013 – Secretary General Ban Ki-moon today welcomed the call by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an armed group operating out of northern Iraq, for a cease-fire and withdrawal of its forces from Turkish territory.
“This is a positive step towards putting an end to the deadly conflict that has brought much suffering and grief to the people of Turkey,” Mr Ban’s spokesperson said in response to questions from correspondents.
“The Secretary-General hopes that this call will be fully implemented and that it will result in a lasting peaceful settlement,” he added, affirming that the UN stands prepared to support the people of Turkey in what he called “this important process.”
via United Nations News Centre – Turkey: Ban welcomes call for ceasefire and withdrawal by Kurdish armed group.
Ban Ki-moon will next week travel to Turkey and Saudi Arabia for a number of engagements in the two countries, including attending a meeting related to the Alliance of Civilizations, a conference on the future of Somalia and a meeting of the advisory board of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre.
Mr. Ban will arrive in the Turkish city of Istanbul on Wednesday and on the next day take part in a Partners Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations, which is being convened by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to broaden public and private support for the initiative.
He will also have meetings with his High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations, Jorge Sampaio, and the Foreign Ministers of Turkey and Spain, co-chairs of the Forum, to discuss the way forward.
Launched in 2005 through the initiative of Spain and Turkey, under the auspices of the United Nations, the Alliance of Civilizations seeks to promote better cross-cultural relations worldwide.
The Secretary-General will also attend a separate event on sustainable energy linked to the forthcoming UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20).
On Thursday, Mr. Ban will co-chair a major international conference on the future of Somalia and hold a range of bilateral meetings with other leaders attending the conference.
On 2 June, the UN chief will travel to the Saudi city of Jeddah, where he is scheduled to hold meetings with the country`s leaders, including King Abdullah bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud. On the following day, Mr. Ban will co-chair the second meeting of the Advisory Board of the newly established UN Counter-Terrorism Centre with the Saudi Foreign Minister.
Photo Source: Wikipedia
via UN Chief Ban To Travel To Saudi Arabia And Turkey.
UN chief, Security Council urge Cypriot rivals to accelerate peace talks
By Associated Press, Published: December 14
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N.’s chief and its most powerful body urged rival Greek and Turkish Cypriots on Wednesday to accelerate peace negotiations aimed at reunifying the divided Mediterranean island.
Cyprus was split into a Greek Cypriot south and a Turkish Cypriot north in 1974 when Turkey invaded after a coup by supporters of union with Greece. Turkish Cypriots declared an independent state in 1983, but only Turkey recognizes it and keeps 35,000 troops there.
Ban called on the rival leaders to maximize the pace and progress of their talks in Cyprus before meeting him again next month for two days of intensive negotiations outside New York City.
via UN chief, Security Council urge Cypriot rivals to accelerate peace talks – The Washington Post.
Erdogan requests from UN’s Ban to make Istanbul center of UN
Erdogan told Ban Ki-moon that Turkey desired to see the Turkish language as an official language of the U.N.. In return, Ban Ki-moon told Erdogan that this was an issue to be decided by member states.
Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan requested from the United Nations (U.N.) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to make Istanbul a center of the U.N. in a meeting he held with the Secretary General on Thursday.
Erdogan told Ban Ki-moon that Turkey desired to see the Turkish language as an official language of the U.N.. In return, Ban Ki-moon told Erdogan that this was an issue to be decided by member states.
During the meeting with the Secretary General, Erdogan expressed Turkey’s disappointment on the Palmer Report that was prepared on the Israeli attack against the Mavi Marmara aid ship in May 2010.
Erdogan told Ban Ki-moon that Turkey would continue to extend assistance to Somalia.
Erdogan and Ban Ki-moon also talked on the Alliance of Civilizations project.
Prime Minister Erdogan will meet the Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadi-Nejad later on Thursday.
U.N. mediated talks have failed to achieve an agreement to reunify the divided island of Cyprus. This is the third time since November the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders have met to try to resolve this decades-old problem without success.
Greek Cypriot President Demetris Christofias (L) and Turkish-Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu stand next to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (C) as he gives a statement concluding a meeting at the European headquarters of the UN in Geneva, July 7, 2011
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who mediated this latest round of negotiations, is an unfailing optimist. But even he acknowledges progress in healing the divisions of the island is far too slow.
He says negotiators from the Greek and Turkish Cypriot sides have worked steadily to move ahead since the last meeting in January. Despite this, he says some important areas still have not been touched.
“For this reason, today’s meeting has been useful and productive,” said Ban. “We have identified some of the difficulties that are standing in the ways of reaching a comprehensive agreement, and we have discussed the need to significantly intensify the negotiations. I have also raised with both leaders the importance of looking ahead at the objective rather than focusing on the problem in minute detail.”
Ban says he is impressed with, what he calls, the commitment on both sides to agree on the details to create a united Cyprus.
Cyprus has been divided since Turkey invaded the island in 1974 following a Greek-inspired coup. Thousands of Turkish and Greek Cypriots fled their homes.
Repeated negotiations throughout the succeeding years have failed to achieve a political settlement to bring the two separate communities together. The major issue of contention concerns property rights. A diplomatic solution as to how to reinstate ownership rights to the thousands of people who were forced to abandon their property has not been found.
Other core issues include governance and power sharing, economy, territory and security, citizenship, and European Union membership. The Greek Cypriot part of the island is an EU member, the Turkish part is not.
This is an ongoing bone of contention between the two sides. It also poses problems for Turkey, whose membership aspirations are tied to the re-unification of Cyprus.
Secretary General Ban says the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders have agreed to intensify their negotiations on the core issues when they return to the island.
“I have every expectation that by October the leaders will be able to report that they have reached convergence on all core issues, and we will meet that month in New York,” added Ban. “This will take the Cyprus negotiations close to their conclusion and would allow me to give a positive report to the Security Council on the matter. It would also pave the way for me to work with the parties towards convening final, international conference.”
Ban says people on both sides of the divide are weary of these endless negotiations. He urges both leaders to renew hope and enthusiasm for a solution.
Some analysts believe the prospect of the Greek Cypriots taking over the six-month rotating EU presidency a year from now might act as an incentive to seal a deal.
via Cyprus Reunification Still Stalled | Europe | English. VOA
NICOSIA: U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon will seek a peace deal within a year from Cypriot leaders engaged in reunification talks Thursday, a source close to the matter said, signalling growing frustration with a slow process that is harming Turkey’s EU ambitions.
Leaders of the estranged Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities have been locked in rounds of negotiations to reunify Cyprus for almost four years, the latest of many previously ill-fated attempts to piece together an island riven by ethnic violence and war.
“By focusing their energy and rising to the occasion this [a deal] could be done in a couple of weeks,” said a person on condition of anonymity.
Ban was scheduled to meet President Demetris Christofias, the Greek Cypriot leader, and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu in Geneva Thursday. Another meeting with the leaders was possible in September, and Ban could also announce he was preparing a report to the Security Council on the state of play in Cyprus negotiations, the source said.
He was expected to seek a commitment from the two that they would ramp up Cyprus-based talks, held in a United Nations compound which forms part of a buffer zone splitting Greek and Turkish Cypriots since a Turkish invasion in 1974 triggered by a brief Greek inspired coup.
A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on July 07, 2011, on page 9.
via THE DAILY STAR :: News :: Middle East :: U.N. chief says peace deal possible between Cyprus and Turkey.
A wide view of Shanidar Cave in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. UN Photo/Bikem Ekberzade
