US, EU determined ‘not to let Cyprus talks fail’

Opposition Alithia daily said the pressure brought to bear on the Cypriot leaders in New York was an example of what to expect when the new process gets under way here with a March 22 deadline.

“The US, Britain and the EU are determined to support this new effort in any way possible,” said a front-page article. “But at the same time it is clearly expressed they will not let this chance go to waste,” Alithia added. If the Cypriot sides cannot see eye-to-eye on key issues, they have agreed to let Annan have the final word.

But before then, if no agreement is reached, Greece and Turkey would be brought in to try to get an accord by March 29.

According to top-selling Phileleftheros, this is where the real negotiations will take place — when the two “mother countries” enter centre stage.. The paper said that when talks begin there will be no new breakthrough, with Papadopoulos and Denktash sticking to their guns and in no mood to compromise on changes they want to Annan’s blueprint. The key issues cover power-sharing arrangements, property, territory and security.

“The tough bargaining is expected to come when Greece and Turkey are called in so as not to leave it to Annan to fill in the blanks,” said Phileleftheros.

“This will be done in an atmosphere of give-and-take reminiscent of hagglers in an Eastern bazaar,” it added, quoting diplomatic sources.

Other papers, like the communist pro-government Haravghi and independent Politis, emphasised the greater role the EU will play, saying it was a significant step forward.

Haravghi said the Greek Cypriots had gained an advantage by “securing the involvement of the EU at all levels of the negotiations.”

Ankara was keen to blunt the involvement of the EU during marathon talks in New York which ended Friday, it claimed.

Moreover, Haravghi said that simultaneous referendums on the plan, set for April 21, could only go ahead once Athens and Ankara had agreed on the security arrangements for Cyprus.

Politis also argued that transitional periods and timetables for population movements, redistribution of land and Turkish troop withdrawals all have to be renegotiated.

However, the referenda, the final step, could prove the ultimate pitfall, the English-language Sunday Mail said in an editorial entitled “Who will sell the peace plan to the people?” Rhetoric from Papadopoulos and Denktash “so far has been unremittingly negative”, and a “yes” vote on the Greek Cypriot side “is anything but certain”, it said. “None of the parties has said anything positive about the plan, support for which has become tantamount to treachery in the Greek Cypriot community.”

Most of the media, with the encouragement of the government, had “consistently cultivated hostility towards the plan, which it presents as something to be resisted at all costs,” the paper added.

The EU has said that if there is no accord, only the Greek Cypriot south will be part of the new wave of EU members on May 1. Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey occupied the northern third of the island in response to a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at uniting the island with Greece.