We must create prospect

 

 

By Stefanos Stefanou,

G.S of the Central Committee of AKEL

(Progressive Party of Working People)

 

The announcement of the agreement between the leaders of the two communities to participate in an informal meeting in a broader format in the near future, under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General, to discuss the way forward, is a positive step. The goal of breaking the impasse and restarting negotiations is still the main question. And since there is no fertile ground due mainly to Tatar’s positions to change much of the agreed negotiation basis, it is not yet certain that the efforts to restart the negotiations will bear fruit.

 

It is evident, that the factor that will determine the outcome of these efforts is Turkey. Turkey’s insistence on putting forward the claims for recognition of sovereign equality and for an equal international status of the pseudo-state,  will continue to be an obstacle to the resumption of the negotiation process for a solution to the Cyprus problem.

We cannot know what stance Turkey will take. However, we as the Greek Cypriot side, with our own stance, with the initiatives we will undertake and the positions we will put forward, can seek to create momentum for the resumption of negotiations.

In order to realize the above objective, the Greek Cypriot side must consistently and without ambiguity present the following positions regarding the solution we seek and the way in which we can proceed.

 

1. At every opportunity we must emphasize our commitment to the bi-zonal, bi-communal federation with political equality as defined in the relevant UN resolutions. This solution is the only possible one since it has been an agreement between the two sides since 1977 and since then it has been reaffirmed several times by both sides and is the position of the UN. As far as the content of political equality is concerned, this has essentially been agreed upon as pointed out by the UN Secretary General in his Report on the 28th September 2017 (point 27). As far as the chapter of political equality is concerned, what stands out is the extremely important convergences for a rotating presidency with a weighted cross-vote and for a Turkish Cypriot vote in the decisions of the Council of Ministers, which we should reaffirm at every opportunity.

 

2. The Greek Cypriot side should remain firm in its position for the continuation of negotiations from the point where they were interrupted, on the basis of the Framework submitted by the UN Secretary General in Crans- Montana. This includes six key issues (territorial, political equality, property, equal treatment, security, guarantees). In addition, the Greek Cypriot side must emphasize that the negotiations concern only the outstanding issues of the Framework and not issues in which many and important convergences have been reached and which must be preserved.

 

In this way, the Greek Cypriot side meets and adopts the position of the UN Secretary General and the Security Council, as they formulated it for a few years after the failure of the Conference in Crans-Montana in their Reports and Resolutions (clear reference is made by the UN Secretary-General from September 2017 – his report of September 28, point 47).Both Mr. Guterres and the Security Council have no reason not to favour this approach which puts the process back on track by making full use of what has been agreed upon and creating a tangible prospect for reaching a strategic agreement that will essentially make the overall solution to the Cyprus issue inevitable. Since the two sides are at a distance in their positions in relation to the starting point of the resumption of the negotiations, the position of the UN emerges as common ground. In this way:

 

1.  All the negotiating acquis (basis of solution, convergences) is preserved so that in the event of a resumption of negotiations, we only have to cover the “last mile”, as Mr. Guterres characterized the remaining distance to reach a strategic agreement.
2. The argumentation and the aims of the Turkish side, which is trying to divert the whole process towards a two-state solution, are neutralised.
3.  The credibility and persuasiveness of the positions of the Greek Cypriot side vis-à-vis the international factor is strengthened.
4. The problematic positions regarding timeframes and upgrading the status of the Turkish Cypriot community in the event of a new failure are convincingly answered.

The positive fact that efforts have been made to convene an informal meeting in a broader format does not in itself mean that the differences between the two sides are lifted. But it is important to know that if and as long as the deadlock is unlocked and the negotiations continue from the point where they were interrupted while preserving the negotiated acquis, the prospect for a solution acquires a strong momentum. Let’s try to create it, to the extent that it depends on us.