Cyprus Talks: The two side must reach an agreement on the terms of reference in order for the negotiations to restart

Turkish Cypriot leader, Mustafa Akıncı has said that for the Cyprus negotiations to restart, the two sides must reach an agreement on the terms of reference.

Speaking in an interview with CNN Türk on Monday, Akıncı said that the UN Secretary General in his latest report had clearly stated that another 50 years cannot be wasted on negotiations.

Different from previous reports, the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in his report stated that any new process could not be open-ended and had to be result-oriented he said.

He noted that Guterres’s temporary Special Envoy Jane Holl Lute has asked for an appointment from Turkey.

I have learned that Lute has asked for an appointment from the Turkish government for the first week of December, possible for the 5^th or 6^th. She has yet to ask us for an appointment. It is most likely she will be meeting with us after her visits to the guarantor states, Akinci said.

He noted that the two sides need to agree on the terms of reference for the negotiations to restart, adding that the UN Special Envoy aimed at completing the process of drafting the terms of reference by the end of this year.

Speaking on Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades’ proposal for a decentralised federation, Akıncı said that it was surprising to see the switch in the Greek Cypriot side’s official position.

For years we argued in favour of a federation in which more powers resided with the constituent states. The Greek Cypriots had argued the opposite.  They had supported a federation with a stronger centre and weaker constituent states. Now all of a sudden Anastasiades came up with this. We are not closed to this idea. I’ve said this from day one. We are ready to discuss a process which will not be open ended. I would like to underline this because the Greek Cypriots want the continuation of the status quo he added.

Akıncı also pointed out that he needed to be realistic as the Turkish Cypriot side would not accept a unitary state model nor did reaching a confederation seem to be achievable.

He said that the UN parameters were not bad and should not be discarded.

I’m not even able to travel to Azerbaijan as President, he said.

Source: BRT