Cyprus is about to Unify with Turkey’s Surprise Move

The Greek side seemed to accept the surprise plan, which Turkey prepared within the scope of its strategy to stay ‘one step ahead’. Leaders, meeting for the third and last time on ‘the longest night’ in New York, agreed at 4:30 in the morning to continue the talks on the island in order to bring the island’s fragmented image to an end.

The third meeting, which was scheduled for 10:00 pm Turkish time, started at 00:10 am due to ‘technical consultations’ although the leaders arrived on time. During the extra time, given upon the Greek’s request, an intense round of shuttle diplomacy took place inside and outside. Annan, meeting with the leaders one by one, tried to appeal to them. Shuttle diplomacy resumed after 01:20 am, when the triple summit ended. When Zaman asked why pre-talks have taken so much time, TRNC President Denktas replied, ‘Because the Greeks are searching for a needle in a haystack.’ Signals from all sides were quite positive prior to the summit; however last minute obstinacy concerned everyone.

Turkish and Greek committees reportedly joined the talks at about 02:30 a.m. Since the talks took longer than expected, hopes for a solution grew stronger. With the four sides kept in separate rooms, Annan tried to get a result with an ‘isolation policy’ and took a stand that there will be ‘no exit before reaching an agreement’. UN Assistant Secretary General, Kieran Prendergast, summarized the atmosphere inside as, ‘Diplomacy takes time and we will not leave the committees without reaching a conclusion.’