The UN's chief envoy to Cyprus, Mr Diego Cordovez, hopes talks between the two communities on the island will resume in the autumn once he finds a "reasonable, practical and fair" formula acceptable to both sides.
Mr Cordovez was speaking at the end of a three-day mission aimed at defusing tension caused by Turkish threats to "take out" Russian missiles if they are deployed by the Greek-Cypriots. Mr Cordovez, a former Ecuadorean foreign minister who served as UN mediator during the Afghan conflict, spoke of "progress" and said his discussions with Cypriot leaders were "positive, substantive and constructive".
He said "both sides are interested" in finding a formula for the resumption of negotiations leading to reunification of the island in a bizonal, bicommunal federation. He insisted that such talks should be "sustained" rather than on the former "stop-and-start" pattern.
Ahead of his visit, analysts on both sides of the Green Line had expressed deep pessimism about the possibility of progress because of the hard line adopted by the Turkish Cypriot leader, Mr Rauf Denktash. He refuses to return to UN-sponsored negotiations unless his breakaway statelet is granted diplomatic recognition and the Cyprus government suspends membership talks with the EU. These demands are rejected by the Greek-Cypriots and the EU. Although Mr Denktash made it clear that he had nothing new to say to the envoy, Mr Cordovez said that a distinction should be made between "the real story and soap opera". Mr Cordovez will report to the council today and return to the island in September. "There is very deep concern in the Security Council about what is going on here," he stated. "The whole atmosphere in the Eastern Mediterranean [between Greece and Turkey] will improve if we have a process going." His aim is to restart the process ahead of the arrival in the Greek-Cypriot south in November of the Russian air defence system, considered a casus belli by Turkey.
