President remains hopeful after UN official says no common ground
Hours after the head of the UN security council said no common ground for solving the Cyprus problem had been found by the UNSG’s personal envoy, President Nikos Christodoulides on Tuesday remained hopeful she would continue her efforts.
UN envoy Maria Angela Holguin will submit her report on Cyprus on July 10, as her mandate expires
Christodoulides said he hoped Holguin would continue her efforts for the resumption of Cyprus talks and that the UN was bound by its own resolutions.
Nicosia hopes that “Holguin will continue her efforts which, with the necessary will from all involved, which will lead to the resumption of talks on the Cyprus problem,” Christodoulides said.
“Holguin, travelled to the island, spoke with both sides, only to find that the parties are far from a compromise solution that might be found,” President of the Security Council for the July and Permanent Representative of Russia Ambassador Vasily Nebenzia said on Monday night, also saying that the last opportunity at Crans Montana was lost nearly a decade ago.
“Everyone, the UN secretary general, Holguin, the members of the Security Council, are bound by the UN resolutions themselves,” Christodoulides pointed out.
“Holguin will submit her report to the UN secretary general”, who will then study it “and decide on the next steps,” he said.
“The framework is very specific, it is determined by the UN Security Council and there is nothing to negotiate outside this framework,” he added.
Asked if he had been briefed on Holguin’s meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar in London, the president said he had received an initial briefing, and he had nothing to add to Tatar’s public statements.
Regarding Nebenzia’s statements, Christodoulides said it was the first day of Russia’s presidency and he did not know the reason the Russian official had referred to the absence of common ground for a Cyprus solution and no tangible progress.
“We should wait for the briefing, the informal briefing. We believe it is important that the Security Council is being briefed, since it is this that determines the framework of a solution to the Cyprus problem,” he added.
Asked about the future of Holguin as personal envoy, Christodoulides said this was up to the UNSG general himself.
“Of course, we would like her to continue her effort, despite the difficulties, the different approaches, the challenges,” he said, adding that this work with “political will from all involved sides could lead to the result we hope for, which is the resumption of talks.”
Commenting on Tatar’s demands for direct trade and flights, Christodoulides said the Turkish Cypriot leader’s positions were well-known and that “such a thing cannot be accepted.
“Direct trade, direct flights and direct contact (with the international community) are the same as sovereign equality, the same as two states. It is the same approach with different names,” he said.
Regarding Tatar’s allegations that the Greek Cypriot side was exploiting the usurpation of property in the north, Christodoulides said “we are not politicising the issue under any circumstance.
“When there is a violation of legislation, a violation of one of the fundamental human rights, the right to property, of course we will move, we cannot stay with our arms crossed.”
Earlier on Tuesday, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis had given a lukewarm response to the UN chastising a few hours earlier.
The spokesman dodged criticism by saying the government wanted to see Holguin’s report to the UN chief before commenting and was still expecting an out-of-character briefing by the UN on Holguin’s meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar.
“So far, we do not have an official briefing on the meeting between Tatar and Holguin,” Letymbiotis told CyBC.
“We have seen the public statements by Tatar and, as the president of the Republic himself said last night, we did not expect to hear anything different from what he has been repeating for some time now,” he added.
“We will await the official briefing and then, if necessary, we will give our position.”
The briefing, he said when asked, will come from the UN and Holguin.
“What is important is reading the facts for the next moves, this is what is important, this is the purpose of this report, to be able to help the secretary-general to evaluate the steps that can be taken in everyone’s effort to resume negotiations,” he added.
“We and the UN remain dedicated to this effort within the agreed-on framework,” he said.
To a comment on Monday that the Security Council had mentioned that the two sides had hardened their positions, Letymbiotis said “we must first evaluate this distance and see which these two parties are.
“If we are talking about two parties, one side is the agreed-on framework, as set out by the UN Security Council resolutions, which obviously the UN and the secretary general’s personal envoy support and promote, as we do – and we have not shifted at any time from this agreed framework,” he said.
“On the other hand, unfortunately, are the unacceptable demands and the intransigence shown, at least through public statements, by Tatar and Turkey,” he stressed.
To a suggestion that the UN statements were a cause of concern, Letymbiotis said he could not know the reasons behind the statements.
“What I can say and I believe is understood, acceptable and acknowledged by the international community, is that our side, the Republic of Cyprus – at least in the past 16 months that I am in a position to know – has made and continues to make efforts, we have undertaken initiatives that are helpful in creating a positive climate so that the negotiations can resume,” he said.