TRNC/ Nami: "Last Chance for a Solution in Cyprus"

ANKARA- Özdil Nami, Representative of TRNC President Mehmet Ali Talat for United Nations and EU Affairs stated he believes that this is the last chance to find an integrated and federal solution for Cypriot Problem and said that if two leaders with a common background and vision cannot take this change no one could.

TEPAV held a round table meeting on 15 January 2010 with the participation of Özdil Nami. Round table meeting titled "Cyprus Negotiations: Unification's Last Chance" was also participated by various bureaucrats, academicians, non-governmental organizations and press representatives. At the meeting, Nami shared his views on the attitudes of TRNC President Mehmet Ali Talat and the Greek Administration of Southern Cyprus (GASC) Leader Dimitris Hristofyas toward the comprehensive and permanent solution negotiations carried out by the named two parties as well as on the state of affairs in the negotiations.

Özdil Nami emphasized that the approval of GASC's EU membership following the plebiscite for the Annan Plan changed the parameters of the Cypriot Problem from its very foundation and that since the isolation posed against the TRNC was not removed, a significant differentiation between partied occurred.

Özdil Nami summarized his opinion on the state of affairs regarding the negotiation as follows:

With the Presidency of Dimitris Hristofyas n GASC, hopes for reinitiating negotiations between two parties blossomed. This hope is nourished by the fact that the two leaders, Hristofyas and Talat, have a common background and a common vision.

On March 21, 2008, the two leaders agreed to initiate a new process and launch negotiations directly after a preparation process of three months. At this preliminary stage before the negotiations which started in September 2008, partied carried out three meetings and agreed on the goals of the negotiations, subjects to be discussed at negotiations and accepted that the agreement reached upon the negotiations will be subjected to simultaneous plebiscites.

In order to run the negotiations efficiently, it was decided that issues related with the Cypriot Problem would be addressed under six different titles: Governance and Authority Sharing, EU Affairs, Economics, Property, Security and Guarantees, and Land.

Negotiations under the mentioned titles are already in process. Among the mentioned titles, progress was made in terms of governance and authority sharing, EU affairs and economics and convergence papers for the parties were prepared. Now, the process is on hold for the reconciliation on the other issues covered in the convergence paper.

Though it is expected that negotiations on the remaining issues namely property, security, and land sharing will be more challenging, the parties have the intention to reconcile at common grounds.

So as for the negotiations to prove fruitful, all relevant parties must make enthusiastic efforts and adopt a more active diplomacy. Parties should assess their attitude toward reconciliation cautiously and be aware of the fact that they cannot miss this chance once again."

After reflecting his opinions on the negotiations, Nami stated he believes that this is the last chance to find an integrated and federal solution for Cypriot Problem and said that if two leaders with a common background and vision cannot take this change no one could.