More on today’s Cyprus talks

UN Secretary General`s Special Adviser on the Cyprus problem, Alexander Downer, has said that the controversy regarding drilling for hydrocarbons in Cyprus’ EEZ should not derail the direct talks for the Cyprus problem.

He urged all sides to act with due restraint to ensure that “in no way this issue derails these talks”.

Downer also said that the United Nations could consider a mediating role concerning this matter, provided that the two ask for its involvement.

Speaking to the press after a meeting between President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu, which lasted 5 hours, Downer said that the hydrocarbons issue was not discussed in today’s direct talks, adding however that the two leaders had the opportunity to discuss the matter with the UNSG in New York last week.

“The SG has made it clear that it is important that restraint is exercised here and that we do what we can to try to make sure that these talks are successful, we do not want anything to happen that would derail the talks, so far that hasn`t happened and we hope that this remains the case”, Downer noted.

Downer said that the leaders touched upon the matter in the meeting they had right after the holiday break, however he stressed that “if they allow these meetings to be overwhelmed by this issue, it would be derailing the talks”.

“They spent some time talking about it, I have obviously spoken to the sides about it on several occasions, as I have with the Turkish government and a number of other governments, so a good deal of talking has been going on about this issue”, he added.

UNSG Special Adviser also said that if the talks are successful, the new United Federal Cypriot government will have responsibility for resources issues, noting that “there was a convergence between the two sides, that in the event of an agreement, that is what will happen”.

Once revenue starts flowing, that revenue will flow to the federal government, he explained.

“So it is really important to understand that. Both communities have an incentive, this is not the only one, but including this, to make sure to reach an agreement to the Cyprus problem and it underlines a simple point: that the stability of the region will be very much enhanced by an agreement here in these negotiations”, he noted.

Asked what the UN could do to assist the situation regarding the hydrocarbons, he said that if the two sides request “some sort of a mediating role”, the UN would consider the matter.

“If the two sides came to us and asked us to play some sort of mediating role, the SG would have a look at that, and we would discuss this and see what we could do, but the two sides would have to come to us, we are not trying to impose ourselves”, he clarified.

He said that the UN had “private conversations” with the Greek Cypriots, the Turks and the Turkish Cypriots about the issue, as well as with a number of other countries and ”what we say remains private and our focus is on the talks”.

Invited to comment on the fact that the Turkish Cypriot leader has put forward some proposals to the UNSG on the matter, Downer said that the “UN has received a paper now from the Turkish side”.

He said that President Christofias is aware of these proposals, as they have been made public, explaining however that “how the Greek Cypriots respond to this is a matter that I’ll leave to them”.

He repeated that “in terms of any role for the United Nations, that is something we would think about in the context of us being asked by the two sides to play a role”.

Downer said that today the leaders talked about European Union matters, describing this as “one of the less contentious chapters in the negotiations”.

He announced that the leaders will meet again on Friday to discuss security issues, whereas their aides will meet on Thursday, at 10 o’clock in the morning.

The UN official said that negotiations will enter a new phase next week, because “we will have gone through all of the chapters by the end of this week”.

He said that he will be talking with the leaders tomorrow about “how we’re going to handle this new phase”, adding that “this will be a phase that will lead us up to the meeting with the Secretary-General”.

He clarified that no date has been confirmed on the meeting with the SG, however it’s likely to be at the very end in October.

“How that meeting will go, as I have explained before, will depend very much on what’s been achieved by then, we look forward to next week getting into a different phase of the negotiations and that will take us through to the last meeting, which is on the 21st of October”, he added.

Turkey, whose troops occupy Cyprus’ northern part since they invaded in 1974, is the only country in the world, which does not recognise the Republic of Cyprus. Following a decision by Nicosia to begin natural gas and oil exploration in its EEZ, Ankara has deployed warships in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Drilling has already begun and is being carried out by Houston-based “Noble Energy”, off Cyprus’ south-eastern coast.

The government of Cyprus has protested to the UN and the EU Turkey’s moves, saying it has a sovereign right to exploit its natural resources, pointing out that Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots will benefit from any benefits that may come from oil drilling.

Cyprus has signed an agreement to delineate the Exclusive Economic Zone with Egypt and Israel with a view to exploit any possible natural gas and oil reserves in its EEZ. A similar agreement has been signed with Lebanon but the Lebanese Parliament has not yet ratified it.

UN-led talks between the leaders of the two communities in Cyprus are currently underway in order to reach a negotiated settlement that would reunify the island.
The leaders of the two communities in Cyprus will meet with UNSG Ban Ki – moon in October in New York to review progress in the Cyprus talks.