Demetriou ‘disappointed’ as talks stall

House President Annita Demetriou on Thursday expressed disappointment over the lack of progress achieved at Wednesday’s tripartite meeting on the Cyprus problem, while the north’s ‘foreign minister’ Tahsin Ertugruloglu said negotiations cannot solve the Cyprus problem.

Demetriou met United Nations envoy Maria Angela Holguin on Thursday and said that “we are disappointed that, so far, the necessary conditions have not been met” for convening an enlarged meeting.

She nonetheless expressed cautious optimism that progress could still be achieved.

“Despite the difficulties, the process is not over. The dialogue must continue and our side must remain firmly committed to this direction,” she said, before adding that Disy is “unwaveringly committed to the goal of resolving the Cyprus problem on the basis of UN resolutions and the agreed framework”.

She added that at the same time, “we are fully aware of the difficulties that this effort entails”.

“For us, the liberation and reunification of our homeland, our national duty, and our highest mission,” she said.

Disy’s position, she said, is “the resumption of substantive negotiations as soon as possible for a solution which will liberate and reunify our homeland, without occupying troops, without anachronistic guarantees, and without interventionist rights”.

Ertugruloglu struck a markedly different tone, telling Kibris Postasi TV that “the Cyprus problem cannot be solved by negotiating with the Greek Cypriot administration”.

“The problem lies with the Greek Cypriot side’s status as the Republic of Cyprus. We first need to demonstrate the Greek Cypriot side’s intransigence to the world. We cannot get anywhere with populist and romantic rhetoric which forgets the root of this disagreement, with slogans which have no real meaning,” he said.

He also accused Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman of “wasting people’s time” by pursuing a federal solution to the Cyprus problem, and said that he is “following the same method” as former Turkish Cypriot leaders Mehmet Ali Talat and Mustafa Akinci in this regard.

He criticised Erhurman’s reference to a rotating presidency in a post-solution Cyprus, arguing that “a rotating presidency implies a unitary state”.

“As long as the Greek Cypriots maintain their status as the Republic of Cyprus, what do we have to talk about with them?” he asked, before offering something of a backhanded compliment to the Greek Cypriot side’s negotiating position.

“I have no intention of pursuing cheap politics by blaming the Greek Cypriot administration. The Greek Cypriots are doing exactly what they need to do according to their own politics and mission. These policies harm the Turkish Cypriots, and we therefore have the right to complain, but the Greek Cypriots are fulfilling the requirements of being a state. We are not,” he said.

Akel was less emphatic, calling on President Nikos Christodoulides and Erhurman to “intensify” their meetings “so as to make progress towards the goal of resuming substantive negotiations for the solution of the Cyprus problem”.

“Everyone’s focus must be on the goal of resuming substantive negotiations, from the point at which they were interrupted in 2017” in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana, it said, before adding that “the difficulties and obstacles are obvious, but they cannot lead to a renunciation of the goal of the solution to the Cyprus problem”.

Later on Thursday, former Turkish Cypriot chief negotiator Ozdil Nami said he agreed with Christodoulides’ proposal for the UN to compile a list of convergences achieved before the collapse of talks at Crans-Montana.

He said such a document would allow the time-limiting of negotiations, suggested by Erhurman, to “become more meaningful with the transparency which would be provided”.

“A study to identify the convergences reached, to be conducted through both negotiators and bilateral contacts, and the transformation of those convergences achieved during previous leaders’ terms into a document titled ‘Erhurman-Christodoulides convergences’ would be an important initial exercise,” he said.

This process, he said, “could be an important springboard for addressing both the core issues and details” within UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ proposed framework.

Nonetheless, he said, “a meaningful outcome will not be possible without the four-point framework put forward by Erhurman”.

Those four points foresee acceptance of political equality by the Greek Cypriot side, time-limited negotiations, preservation of past agreements, and a UN guarantee that embargoes on Turkish Cypriots would be lifted should talks collapse again.