Olgun evaluated the Cyprus negotiation process
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (25.12.14) reported that the Turkish Cypriot negotiator Ergun Olgun and members of his negotiating team held a press conference at the so-called presidential palace on December 24, where they evaluated the latest developments on the Cyprus negotiation process.

Speaking during the press conference, Olgun said that the Turkish Cypriot side does not see the withdrawal of the Greek Cypriot side from the peace talks as “the end of the road” and expressed the hope that a solution to the Cyprus problem will be found in 2015.

Noting that the current negotiation process is “a last chance” for a solution in Cyprus, Olgun called on the Greek Cypriot side to return to the talks “without any preconditions”.

Criticizing the Greek Cypriot side for trying “to separate the discovery and use of hydrocarbon resources from the solution process in Cyprus”, Olgun alleged that the Greek Cypriot side is campaigning “to maintain the status quo by preserving the Republic of Cyprus.”

Noting that the Turkish seismic research ship Barbaros Hayrettin Pasa is “about to complete its exploration work” and that “the Greek Cypriot side may halt its exploration work for technical reasons”, Olgun said: “If such an opportunity exists, if the sides will take a break, the Turkish Cypriots would like to ensure that the sides return to the negotiating table without any preconditions by using this period appropriately.”

Olgun also said: “The sides will probably maintain their positions until the hydrocarbon issue is discussed and brought to a conclusion. That is where we stand now.”

Describing the Joint Declaration of 11 February 2014 as a “road map” that “must not be wasted”, Olgun said that the “unanimity of the Turkish Cypriot side with regard to a solution is a constructive factor.” He said: “There is public support (for a solution consistent with the Joint Declaration)”.

Noting that Turkey’s “unreserved support” for the Turkish Cypriot side is making a “positive contribution to the process,” Olgun said that Espen Bath Eide, the Special Adviser to the UN Secretary General on Cyprus, “has demonstrated a positive and constructive attitude.”

Criticizing the Greek Cypriot side for opposing the “equality” of the two sides, Olgun alleged: “The top threat is the steadfast stance the Greek Cypriot side has taken against the division of powers and bi-zonality on a foundation of political equality. This stance has become institutionalized and [become part of] Greek Cypriot political culture. This has become the prevailing posture of all [Greek Cypriot] political parties.”

He also quoted statements by former Republic of Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos as examples of Greek Cypriot reluctance to agree to a federation.

Olgun also criticized the international community for “statements that defend the status quo” in Cyprus. He said that “statements to the effect that exploration for offshore hydrocarbon resources on the island is a sovereign right of the Republic of Cyprus” serve “to support the status quo.” He added that the international community must “treat both peoples equally if it is sincere about a solution.”

Claiming that the Greek Cypriot side “remains stuck to the idea of Enosis” and “has failed to adapt the dynamic structure of the 21st century,” Olgun criticized the Republic of Cyprus’ President Nikos Anastasiades for “pursuing Hellenism steadfastly”.

Olgun said: “The conduct of the Greek Cypriot side until now suggests that [they want] to use the federation talks to expand their authority to north Cyprus, to create a basis for the Greek Cypriots to return to their properties, to undermine the guarantee treaties, and to drive out the Turkish military from Cyprus”.

Noting that the Greek Cypriots have been conducting talks with Israel and Egypt “to create joint maritime zones”, Olgun said: “The mindset of creating conditions to divvy up the entire Mediterranean and to deprive a country with a population of 78 million and with the longest coastline in the eastern Mediterranean from the resources of the eastern Mediterranean looms before us as a very serious risk”.

Olgun also said that “the island of Cyprus is viewed as the forward outpost of Christianity in the region” and that “from this standpoint, there is a risk that the Turkish Cypriots may be viewed as ‘the other’ on the island.”

Stating that cooperation with the Greek Cypriot side is possible with regard to the water that will be brought from Turkey, Olgun said: “The hydrocarbon issue is part and parcel of the negotiations. We remain steadfast that the hydrocarbon issue be part of the negotiations so that we can take advantage of its catalyzing power.”

Olgun added that a settlement in Cyprus will “open up Turkey’s markets for companies in the Greek Cypriot sector” and that “hydrocarbon resources will be sold most profitably once restrictions on the Turkish Cypriot side are lifted”.

Commenting on President Anastasiades’s remark that “an entity that does not wish to join the Republic of Cyprus cannot be treated as a partner”, Olgun said that “the Turkish Cypriot side has no plans to join the Republic of Cyprus to seek its rights”.

Speaking at the same press conference, Hasan Gungor, “undersecretary” of the Turkish Cypriot leader, Dervis Eroglu, said that [cell phone] roaming and radio and television broadcast frequencies have been discussed but that they “all hit the wall of the sovereignty concept of the “Greek Cypriot administration”, as he called the Republic of Cyprus.

Noting that the bicommunal technical committees “are not performing at desirable levels,” Gungor said that the Turkish Cypriot side is planning “to define new strategies in the new year.”

Answering a question, negotiator Olgun said that the Greek Cypriot suggestion that the World Bank prepare a report about the creation of a joint commission for the use of hydrocarbon resources is aimed at “putting off the hydrocarbon issue” and that this issue “is something that the two sides can resolve by talking to each other.”

Answering another question on “the villages the Greek Cypriot side has demanded for a solution,” Olgun said that “territorial questions are some of the last issues to be discussed in the negotiations.” Stating that “division of powers and property ownership will be the top issues on the agenda if the negotiations resume”, Olgun said that the Turkish Cypriot side envisions “the return of a minimum amount of territory” to ensure that “a minimal number of people are forced to move.” He added that, at this time a [Turkish Cypriot territorial share of] “somewhere around 29% plus” is being envisioned but added that “this is his personal opinion.” He also said that these proposals are no different from what was proposed by former Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat.

Gunes Onar, a member of the Turkish Cypriot negotiating team, said that the Turkish Cypriot side has not discussed any figures or maps with regard to territorial adjustments and that “criteria related to territorial adjustments were discussed in Geneva during July 2011.”

Onar also said that “a paper listing the places demanded has been obtained from the Greek Cypriot side” but added that “this was a proposal that was not a proposal.”