President Nikos Christodoulides yesterday briefed the National Council on UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ recent meetings and the subsequent contacts of EU envoy Raffaele Fitto on the island.

Presidential palace official Victoras Papadopoulos highlighted the “very positive” fact that Guterres clarified he is operating within UN parameters and based on past convergences.

According to Politis’ sources, the UN will prepare a document on past convergences which it will share with both sides for comment, a move seen as key to convening a new 5+1 meeting.

Asked whether the UN could record past convergences in time for the UN General Assembly in September, Papadopoulos said Guterres must consider the time remaining realistic enough to implement his plan to convene an expanded conference and resume negotiations with prospects for success.

Asked about the focus of preparations for an expanded conference, the official said the focus is “solely and exclusively” on going to a 5+1 that will result in a resumption of talks. The president takes CBMs seriously and has some proposals in mind, but they are not a prerequisite, he added.

Regarding Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman’s call to hold a leaders’ meeting every week, Papadopoulos said the president is ready to do anything that can lead to formal talks and a Cyprus solution.

Less said the better

After the briefing, DISY leader and House President Annita Demetriou said: “The less we say, the more we allow diplomacy to do its work.” She added that the circumstances did not allow for political games or displays of patriotic one-upmanship.

Demetriou noted certain steps were being taken in the right direction, while EU-Turkish relations, past convergences and broader regional developments also had to be taken into account.

“The Cyprus issue can never be examined in isolation. It is connected to all these developments,” she said.

Safeguard convergences

AKEL leader Stefanos Stefanou said the focus needs to be on safeguarding convergences and resuming peace talks from where they left off. If all parties, and above all Turkey, show the necessary political will, then the desired outcome can be achieved. But first, the preconditions set by Guterres need to be put in place so he may convene the expanded conference.

Nothing doing

ELAM’s Christos Christou said the UNSG failed to achieve the key objective of persuading Turkey to change its stance. As such, references being made to a resolution of the Cyprus issue in the coming months are, “at this stage, unfounded,” he said.

“It would be better for us to limit ourselves to what we know rather than what we assume,” he added.

Turkey’s negative disposition

DIKO leader Nicholas Papadopoulos welcomed the UNSG’s “positive references” on substance and process, as well as the president’s efforts for a more active EU role in the Cyprus issue. However, Turkey’s “expansionist tendencies and negative intentions” do not reveal a positive disposition towards resolving the conflict, he added.

Peace effort on life support

ALMA’s Odysseas Michaelides put it bluntly when he said the Cyprus issue “remains on life support,” adding, “We have not pulled the plug, but nor is it out of intensive care.”

On CBMs, he said linking Mia Milia with Athienou crossing point was the right move, but if negotiations could resume on the agreed basis, then opening Mia Milia alone could be accepted.

Public needs to know

Direct Democracy leader Fidias Panayiotou called for convergences and all other details on the peace effort to be made public. People need to know what is happening before they are potentially asked again to vote in a referendum, he argued.

“We need to involve the public in this process, and this is something that we, as Direct Democracy, will also try to do in the coming period,” he said.

Ready for homework

Meanwhile, Erhürman took to his favoured means of communication, posting on Facebook yesterday that the Guterres visit made clear that the two leaders in Nicosia have “homework” to do if they are to go to a 5+1.

“We are moving forward step by step,” he said, adding that he is ready to meet with Christodoulides every week to prepare for an expanded meeting that produces results. “The rest is just empty talk,” he added.

At the same time, Turkish Cypriot coalition leader Ünal Üstel met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Saturday, noting there will be no retreat from the two-state solution model. The two also discussed the Cyprus Republic’s “politicisation of the law” against Turkish Cypriot real estate agents and property developers, a statement from his office said.

Isotita #