United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres will try on Thursday to make the parties at the Conference on Cyprus in Switzerland negotiate along a specific framework for discussion. The Secretary General Guterres presented the package to the delegations last Friday and the package was reconfirmed on Tuesday afternoon.
The UNSG has identified the following elements:
– On security we have to recognise the need for a new security regime, not a continuation.
– We need to end the right of intervention and the Treaty of Guarantee.
– They need to be replaced by a new system of assurances so that all Cypriots feel secure.
– A new implementation mechanism will be created that will also involve elements outside Cyprus.
– Guarantors cannot monitor the implementation of their own obligations.
On troops there should be a reduction from day 1 and then a gradual withdrawal with an agreed timetable to reach the numbers of the old Treaty of Alliance.
There is an issue regarding whether there will be a review or a sunset clause. This issue and the timetable should be discussed at the highest level (probably meaning heads of government).
On territory the Turkish Cypriot side needs to adjust the map regarding some localities (Greek Cypriots interpret this as referral to the Morphou area).
On property two principles need to be observed:
1. In territorial adjustment areas the regime must give prevalence to the dispossessed owners, but not 100%.
2. For the other areas, the regime must give prevalence to the users, but not 100%.
On equivalent treatment: as regards the permanent residents, Turkish nationals will have a quota that should be equitable. Further discussion is needed on what is ‘equitable’.
On effective participation: the issue needs to be discussed further with regard to the issue of a ‘weighted vote’, as well as when and under what circumstances it will be exercised.
Other remaining elements in power-sharing including the rotating presidency should be discussed as demanded by the Turkish Cypriots (according to a 2:1 ratio).
