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Cyprus report
by Euro Reporter
2008-10-16 08:33:50 |
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Negotiations
UN SPECIAL envoy Alexander Downer is expected to give the two leaders a pep talk when he joins them in their next meeting on Friday. Although the language is couched diplomatically, the bottom line is that the UN is unhappy with the pace of the talks and with the counterproductive statements both leaders are making through the media. Downer usually makes a brief statement to the leaders before they start their meetings.
On Friday, he is expected to give President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat “his impressions of where the talks are at, and where they are going”, according to sources close to the process. He is also expected to ask them to stop talking to each other through the media and to refrain from making inflammatory speeches at international forum. This was likely aimed at Talat, who listed a litany of grievances to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe last Wednesday.
A UN request for more frequent meetings could also be on the cards. The leaders have met three times since September 3, the date the talks were officially inaugurated. They have been discussing governance and power sharing but a leaked report to Turkish Cypriot media on Monday said they had only agreed seven out of 20 points related to the overall issue. Eleven points of discussion have been postponed, and the leaders are in complete disagreement over two points. One relates to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which has a direct bearing on the possible oil and gas deposits off Cyprus.
The second relates to antiquities and would likely impact on the return of the cultural heritage lost since the 1974 Turkish invasion. “Mr. Downer is expected to explore with the leaders how he can be more helpful to them and how he can be more active,” said the sources. “He will be sounding them out on this.” They made it clear, however, that nothing would be done without the nod from Christofias and Talat, as both sides have an aversion to any sort of arbitration from the UN or other foreign mediators. “Arbitration is something that’s imposed. Mediation is not,” said the sources.
To get to an end this story there is one thing that must happen for a start, the Turkish occupation army must leave the island!
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The elders
The three members of The Elders arrive in Cyprus today to give a boost to the flagging Cyprus talks and to encourage the leaders by lending their weighty support to the process. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former US President Jimmy Carter and former Algerian Foreign Minister Lakhdar Brahimi will today and tomorrow meet political leaders, civil society representatives and young people from the island's Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot communities.
The Elders are to urge the international community to embrace the fact that a lasting settlement is within reach in Cyprus, and actively to support the leaders and the peace process. They also want to commend Christofias and Talat for their efforts to reunify the island. But they have emphasized that they would not be involved in the negotiations.
"We are here to say that the world wants this island to find peace – we wish it with all our hearts. We encourage all Cypriots to look forward to the potential benefits that a peaceful resolution can bring. And we want to make sure that the current efforts of the Cypriot leaders to reach a lasting settlement are fully supported by the international community,” said Elders chairman Archbishop Tutu.
Everybody to help!
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People with special needs
DISY Deputy Stella Kyriakidou yesterday called for a national strategic policy for adults with special needs.
Speaking after the House Human Rights Committee, which discussed the problems faced at the Margarita Liasides Institute in Paphos, Kyriakidou said the state had an obligation to ensure adults with special needs were well cared for. “We have a duty to care for these people from the moment they are born until the day they die.
A problem we have spotted in all districts is when these people reach adulthood and are deinstitutionalized, they live at home in isolation with their parents worrying what is going to happen to their children when they die,” said Kyriakidou. “Some parents reach the point where they guiltily admit that they sometimes wish their child would die before them, so they wouldn’t have to worry.” The DISY deputy said it was time the state concentrated on adults with special needs, especially in view of the forthcoming Radio marathon.
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