Government Spokesman Nicos Christodoulides says the minutes of Crans-Montana meetings may have to be made public unless the UN Secretary-General’s Special Adviser for Cyprus Espen Barth Eide changes his tune on the collapse of the talks.
Speaking after a two-hour meeting with President Nicos Anastasiades on Monday, Eide told reporters outside the President Palace that the UN remains committed to supporting efforts to solve the Cyprus Problem.
Eide mentioned contacts he had had within the UN and in Turkey and Athens after Crans-Montana and said he was now in Cyprus to share some of his own thoughts on the process and hear how they would like to proceed.
He described the current state of play as being “complicated” and that that while “a lot was achieved in Crans-Montana, we did not reach final agreement”.
He also said Turkey did not accept zero guarantees or troops but added: “We were working towards an outcome on security that – I mean the Secretary-General and myself – that we think could have worked at the end of the day as part of a final package that would then lead to the end of guarantees and intervention rights, but they would have kept some troops, at least for some time. Where we were not ready to agree is the issue of the longevity of the troops.”
Eide said Turkey’s cooperation would have been part of a six-part package progress but UN SG Antonio Guterres had decided to end proceedings at that point.
He said he would be happy if talks could resume by Autumn but also acknowledged that elections in Norway were coming up but that he had decided to stay on as UN SG Special Adviser until now because Gutterres had asked him to and believed he had something to offer the process.
“The question,” Eide continued “is how we proceed now,” adding he would say more after meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci at 2.30pm on Monday.
Eide also repeated earlier statements disputed by the Greek Cypriot side on the reasons behind the collapsed of the talks.
He said he was in Cyprus to listen to the leaders of both sides and said it was hoped there could be a reconnection.
Eide, to a large degree repeated what he said in recent interviews.
In his comments outside the Presidential Palace, Government Spokesman Nicos Christodoulides said a close eye would be kept on the developments over the coming days, including but not limited to, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ report on the events at Crans-Montana, which will be prepared by Eide.
“The reason of the failure of talks Crans-Montana was Turkey’s insistence for the continuation of guarantee rights, the right of intervention and the permanent presence of Turkish troops in Cyprus,” he said, noting this is what the Greek Cypriot side had been saying from day one.
“If references that do not correspond to the truth continue, I do not consider there to be any choice but the making public the minutes of what went on in Crans-Montana,” he continued.
Christodoulides said no Greek Cypriot politician would have achieved an end to guarantees and Turkey’s intervention right: “There is no bigger achievement than achieving this kind of result”.
It is not a threat, Christodoulides continued, but a way for all the people of Cyprus, Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot, to know the truth about what happened in Crans-Montana.
He said Eide had not made any reference to his next visit to Cyprus and Christodoulides said the only way for things to move on productively would be if Turkey changed its stance on security and guarantees.
“Turkey has to accept Cyprus becoming what the UN SG described as a ‘normal’ state without troops and guarantees,” the Government Spokesman added, when asked what comes next.
