TRNC News 29th June 2017 Conference on Cyprus begins

The Conference on Cyprus, which was organized to find a federal solution based on the equality of the two constituent states for the Cyprus problem began yesterday in Crans-Montana.

The conference, which started in January 2017 and which has been reconvened after 5 months, will be attended by the both sides in Cyprus, as well as the guarantor countries Turkey, Greece and the United Kingdom.

President Mustafa Akıncı and the Greek Cypriot Leader Nikos Anastasiades will participate in the conference as well as Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Greece Foreign Minister Nikos Kocias and the Acting Director General, Defence and Intelligence at the British Foreign Office Jonathan Allen.

Vice President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans and Special Representative of the EU Commissioner Jean-Claude Juncker`s Personal Representative to the UN Good Offices Mission in Cyprus, Pieter Van Nuffel will represent the EU as an observer country.

The UN Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide explained that he would not present the joint document he prepared, and added that the outstanding issues will be discussed at the meeting.

The issues of “Security and Guarantees” will be also discussed on the 2nd desk, where the guarantors are also involved. The “Security and Guarantees” chapter will be discussed again at a political level.

President Mustafa Akıncı, Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu, and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu met with political party leaders and representatives at the working dinner.

Akıncı gave a briefing about the work of the first day of the conference and exchanged views about today’s work at the dinner.

Çavuşoğlu: “We came here for the solution – this 50 year old problem must be solved”

During the first session of the Cyprus Conference, which began yesterday in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, the Turkish delegation under the chairmanship of the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu presented an ‘integrated approach’ to finding a solution with ‘a historical perspective’.

According to an AA correspondent, Minister Çavuşoğlu gave the message on the first day of the conference, saying: “We came here for a solution – the problem that has been continuing for 50 years must be solved.”

At a time when all issues were addressed simultaneously, Turkey once again emphasized its political will for a “just and lasting” solution on the island.

Eide: “We made a good start”

At a press conference with the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, and Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for the Conference on Cyprus Jeffrey Feltman, the UN Secretary General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide said that he saw all attendees were hopeful, and made a fresh, constructive start to talks.

Giving information about the format of the conference, Eide noted that while the issue of “Security and Guarantees” was being discussed at table one, in which all attendees will participate, the other outstanding issues will be discussed at the second table by the negotiators.

Eide also said that the conference will continue along these two parallel levels, as Guterres said. He added that the issue of “Security and Guarantees” is important, but that there are also some uncompromising factors in other issues.

Responding to a question on the length of the conference, Eide said that the parties are determined to stay here until the problem is solved and that the UN is ready to support the process as long as the parties need it.

Eide said that the conference had technical plans to run until 7th July, but that this program could be extended if necessary.

In response to another question regarding the common document, Eide said “the document has not been withdrawn. That’s a wrong expression. We simply concluded that it’s not common. We presented it, it exists, and it is not common. So we are not using it as a common platform.”

“However, the positions that were captured in the document from Mont Pelerin in January and the ideas that had informed the drafting of the document in consultation with all parties, remained available to inform the positions of the sides” he added.