Movement on the Cyprus question?
For the first time in years, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has indicated progress in talks on the Cyprus question. In a conference this week both sides agreed on joint initiatives. In addition to opening further checkpoints in the UN Buffer Zone, mines are to be cleared, a youth committee established and joint environmental projects planned and implemented. Further negotiations are planned for July.
Slowly build confidence
The Cyprus Mail is cautiously optimistic:
“A new, admittedly low-key process was set in motion, with the sides agreeing to work on specific confidence building measures before meeting again at the end of July. ... It was a smart way of starting a new process, with neither side being asked to cross the respective red lines it had set. ... Under the circumstances, after eight years of deadlock this was the best possible outcome. ... Whether the sides will actually open four new crossings, set up a solar park in the buffer zone and take joint action on climate change remains to be seen. But only when these decisions are implemented will we be able to say that the Geneva meeting was a success.”
Give it a chance
The Cyprus Times sees a ray of hope in various formal resolutions:
“The appointment of a special envoy or representative of the UN Secretary General will effectively stir up the stagnant waters and reopen a debate about topics [the representative of the Turkish Cypriots] Tatar does not want to be up for discussion. The joint letter from Costa and von der Leyen is also significant. It shows that we are not alone or isolated, and that we have not run out of 'weapons' that could change Turkey's position. Let us not undermine an initiative that is just getting off the ground before it has a chance to prove whether it offers any hope of success, however small.”
No common basis for further steps
Historian Andreas Orphanidis laments in Phileleftheros:
“Even if Secretary-General António Guterres speaks of the greatest progress since 2017, the results of the conference don't offer a meaningful solution, but only confirm the stagnation and the major differences between the two sides. The biggest problem arising from the conference is the lack of agreement on a clear political framework for a solution to the Cyprus problem. The Greek Cypriot side continues to support the bi-zonal bi-communal federation, while the Turkish Cypriot side, backed by Ankara, insists on a two-state solution.”