Front Page Headlines
Election of discontent
New parties mushroom but lack the vision or resources to do well on May 30
- World: No end in sight for Israel-Gaza conflict
Turkey sponsoring terrorism
Erdogan’s aim is to deter alliances in the Middle East.
- First to the guarantor powers and then to Cyprus: Jane Holl Lute launches contacts next month
- Analysis: The Cyprus problem on a course of destruction
- Political silence: No indignation for Tatar, Niyazi, Erdogan?
- Cruises: Setting off dynamically again for Cyprus
- Savvas Iacovides (opinion): From the Turko-bizonal to the Turkish solution of two states: The same national nightmare
- Andreas M. Vassiliou (opinion): They’re exonerating Turkey
- Petros Th. Pantelides (opinion): Change of tactic after the five-party trap
The DISY-AKEL battle and the hope of the little ones
Parliamentary elections 2021: Poll by Noverna on behalf of ‘Politis’
- When Tassos was breaking the UN’s embargo on Milosevic: ‘P’ gets hold of a top secret letter by Carla Del Ponte
UN flirt with British ideas
Scenario for the presentation of a new Guterres Framework with intense London colours. The backstage igniting.
- Restarting proving difficult: Strong intervention needed in the Cyprus problem
- Concerns at the Geneva Lake
- The Middle East in flames: Fear of a general combustion
Ready to apologise after the report
I will publicly acknowledge my responsibilities as regards the naturalisation programme. Nicos Anastasiades reveals his cards on all matters to ‘K’.
- The solution framework wearing away
- New cycle of violence and blood
- Energy: Greece in the plans of Israel-Egypt
The cost of coronavirus tests is 50 million euros
€38 million for rapid tests and €9 million for PCR.
- Interview: “Even in Geneva Anastasiades remained incorrigible”
- Double interview: Risk of slipping into a confederal solution visible. Where the Cyprus problem stands after the informal summit in Geneva
- Chinese Ambassador: China supports the resolution of the Cyprus problem on the basis of relevant UN resolutions
- ‘Golden’ passports: Averof Neophytou the concertmaster in a conference on behalf of the government as an associate of agents
- Unabated intensity between Israel and Palestine
Page 255 burns Nicholas
Kyriakos Koushos: Report on naturalisations. While the law office of the President of DIKO submitted applications for the exceptional naturalisation of foreign investors, he himself participated in a strange amendment of the relevant legislation – “Once he reads this he should think about whether he’s the right person to be acting as a preacher of catharsis” was the comment of the government spokesperson. Why did the DIKO administration ‘forget’ to put criteria on naturalisations?
- Political analysis: We need a second Helsinki
- Christos Panayiotides (opinion): We’re either striving for the reunification of Cyprus, or we’re accepting dismemberment
- Netanyahu: “They’re paying and they will continue to pay a steep price. Nothing is over yet”
Main News
‘British formula’ gaining support, reports say
Haravgi, Kathimerini, Phileleftheros
Negotiations Process
OVERVIEW
Phileleftheros reports that against the backdrop of a second informal summit on Cyprus expected to take place after the June EUCO, the UN and Britain are preparing their final diplomatic ‘attack’, Turkey is launching a campaign to promote a two-state solution, and Nicosia is to a great extent intervening through letters toward the UN Secretary General (UNSG), the UN Security Council (UNSC) P5, and EU member state leaders.
According to Phileleftheros, since the GC side’s request for the second informal summit to take place before the EUCO fell through, a development that the paper notes was strongly pursued by Britain so that Turkey’s demands from the EU are met, President Nicos Anastasiades has requested a joint meeting with the TC leader Ersin Tatar prior to the summit, with the meeting likely to be hosted by the UNSG’s Special Envoy Jane Holl Lute when she visits Cyprus for contacts in June.
Phileleftheros reports that while the new conditions created by the informal Geneva summit will define any upcoming processes, the most important element is the position of the UNSG. The paper writes that despite his comments at the end of the informal summit, it is the position expressed by Guterres during the first day of the summit which is not only cause for concern but is also expected to be the stance he will uphold. Both Phileleftheros and Kathimerini report that in Geneva, Guterres specified that sovereignty will move from the base (the two communities) to the top (the state). Both papers understood Guterres to be pointing to a confederation and mirroring the ‘British formula’, which Phileleftheros writes Guterres has adopted and will likely present as a new Guterres Framework with a few differentiations mainly as regards the language. The Guterres Framework that existed until now appears to have been archived, Phileleftheros reports.
Kathimerini reports that the EU is also mulling over Britain’s ideas on a confederal solution as a middle ground between a bizonal bicommunal federation (BBF) and a two-state solution. The paper reports that the Foreign Office’s diplomatic moves as well as its arguments regarding the need for flexibility and compromise from all sides held sway among EU officials, though these constitute a minority for the time being. Kathimerini notes that while EU member states and bodies stand against a solution that will result in two separate entities in Cyprus, EU sources claim that if Guterres tables a confederal solution that will still allow for a reunified Cyprus with a single representation in the EU, none but involved parties could say no. This scenario would leave Nicosia in a lose-lose situation, Kathimerini writes, since it would be called to either accept a confederation or reject a proposal being pushed forward by London and Guterres himself, therefore legitimising Turkey’s demand for a two-state solution in the eyes of the international community.
Phileleftheros reports that despite its insistence on two states, a confederation is also the end goal for Turkey, since it will allow it to rule over the north and share sovereignty in the south. Through elements such as a positive vote, Phileleftheros reports that Turkey is striving toward controlling natural resources and the state as a whole.
In another article, Phileleftheros reports that a resumption of Cyprus problem talks is not expected until early 2022, since after the EUCO in June, the UNSC’s vote on the good offices mission in Cyprus and the UNFICYP mandate in July, it is not until September that a joint meeting could be set up between Anastasiades and Tatar on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. The second informal summit could be called for Autumn, but that will mean that it will coincide with a period of renewed mobility as regards EU-Turkey relations, leaving the only viable solution to be postponing the new informal summit for early 2022, by which time Phileleftheros reports the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will already be plunging into pre-election mode, which can only mean bad news for the Cyprus problem.
Phileleftheros reports that the only way to achieve positive results in Cyprus problem efforts is if the UNSG requests the intervention of US President Joe Biden in order to steer Erdogan toward a more constructive stance.
Meanwhile, in an interview with Haravgi, Chinese Ambassador to Cyprus Liu Yantao said China is closely monitoring the Cyprus peace efforts and was disappointed to see parties participating in the informal Geneva summit unable to find common ground for the resumption of talks. Yantao said China remains firmly in support of a comprehensive, fair and viable solution on the basis of relevant UN resolutions and the will of the Cypriot people.
KEY ACTORS
Yantao (China)
>> China closely monitoring the Cyprus peace efforts
>> China disappointed to see parties at 5+1 unable to find common ground for the resumption of talks
>> China remains firmly in support of a comprehensive, fair and viable solution on the basis of relevant UN resolutions and the will of the Cypriot people