Kofi Annan Invites Clerides And Denktash To Paris Meeting

by Lorys Charalambous, Tax-News.com, Nicosia

05 August 2002

After a visit to Cyprus in May at which he unsuccessfully tried to pressure Greek Cypriot President Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash into reaching agreement in their long-running negotiations over the divided island, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has now invited the two men to meet him in Paris next month in a further attempt to salvage the foundering peace talks.

Last week the two leaders, who, quaintly, have been friends since childhood, held the final meeting in Nicosia in round five of their direct talks, concentrating on the territorial issue as well as the problem of missing persons. Now they are taking a three-week break before starting a further round of talks on August 26.

In Paris on September 6, Kofi Annan will hold separate meetings with Clerides and Denktash in the presence of his Cyprus envoy, Alvaro de Soto, followed by a joint session. Until now, de Soto has been restricted to a watching brief, and has not been permitted to make proposals to the leaders.

Government spokesman Michalis Papapetrou said on Thursday "there is no sign of progress so far and there is no ground for optimism. But this does not mean the effort has failed and should be written off". He thought that the purpose of the Paris talks would be for the UN to try to gain acceptance from the Turkish side that the UN could play a more direct role in the negotiations, and that UN proposals as such would then follow, perhaps in October.

The EU Commission is expected to give the green light for the admission of new members, including if need be a divided Cyprus, in mid-October; and general elections in Turkey are set for November 3. It's not likely that Turkey will change its stance on Cyprus until after those elections: the current prime minister, Bulent Ecevit, it was who ordered the invasion of Cyprus in 1974.

Meanwhile the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee has invited both Clerides and Denktash for a meeting in Brussels (probably in September or October) to discuss Cyprus and the EU enlargement. "The meeting will only take place if both sides accept the invitation" a parliamentary official said.

Recommended