G.O. Notes

As of today’s leaders’ meeting, the Cyprus talks have been formally under way for 16 months.  As the year comes to a close – a traditional time for stocktaking — the question of where the negotiations stand will be asked again.  I believe the sides have made good progress, and, obviously, that they’ll need to make much more.  That’s why it’s so significant that the leaders have agreed to hold intensive talks in mid-January 2010.  Perhaps the absence of spectacular announcements so far in the process has led some to bemoan a supposed lack of movement.  Indeed, and despite the fact that the Cyprus problem as we know it today is decades old, too many people, I feel, still underestimate just how hard it is to solve.  Many also fail to grasp how far the leaders have come and how much they have had to overcome to get here.  There have been difficult moments – the mini-crisis after the opening of Ledra Street, the disputes over Limnitis, to cite just a couple – but they have not stopped the process.  All eyes – in Cyprus and abroad — will now be on the January sessions to see how the peace process advances.

As I travel to join my family for the season’s celebrations, I feel, as does my team here, tired but exhilarated.  It is very exciting to envisage the tremendous potential that would be unlocked in the event of a settlement.  The phrase “peace dividend” is thrown around a little too easily for my taste, but I truly believe Cypriots will enjoy great benefits from a solution, not least material ones.  So when the leaders in the coming weeks face the inevitable difficulties that crop up in such complex negotiations, it will be important to keep things in perspective and give them sufficient space to work out the best possible bargain for both sides.
For my part, I will be back in Nicosia on 4 January in time for the first leaders’ meeting of 2010.  Have a happy festive season and a peaceful new year.

Welcome to our new website, uncyprustalks.org, where you’ll find the latest information on the Good Offices mission and how it facilitates the negotiations that aim to bring Cyprus together.

In this Notes section of uncyprustalks.org, we will try to provide a more direct perspective and views on issues of interest.  For example, in the first Notes entry (below), I explain our use of what has by now become a familiar phrase.

I hope you’ll find the site useful and informative.  In any case, let us know what you think.  Thank you,

Alexander Downer

Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on Cyprus

I am often asked (and frequently in a weary tone) what I mean when I say we in the UN are cautiously optimistic about the outcome of the Cyprus peace process.  My answer is, simply, that I/we believe there is a good chance that the two leaders can reach a settlement.  That explains the “optimistic” part. The “cautious” part is an acknowledgment that a solution is not a foregone conclusion.  The Cyprus problem is going to be exceedingly difficult to solve.  Not only are the issues extremely complex, but the leaders face some stiff opposition in their own camps, including from some who do not even accept the basis for the negotiations (a bizonal, bicommunal federation).

So when we say for the umpteenth time that we are cautiously optimistic, it’s not simply professional boosterism:  it is, in part, a vote of confidence in the two leaders, who have shown great determination and perseverance; and it is the expression of our sincere belief that we have now a rare opportunity to make decisive progress in bringing the Cyprus tragedy to an end.