Cyprus talks ‘not moving fast enough’
NICOSIA – A US envoy said yesterday that Cyprus reunification talks were not moving fast enough to meet a June target to resolve the island’s division, a key source of tension between Greece and Turkey. The comments by Thomas Weston, special envoy for Cyprus at the State Department, came amid mounting speculation that the talks were faltering on issues that have kept the eastern Mediterranean island divided for years. «I can’t say that they appear to be moving with the needed urgency which the (UN) Security Council asked for in its last statement to permit an agreement, which the Security Council feels is feasible by June,» Weston told reporters after his arrival in Cyprus. Weston said the fact that talks were still under way between Cypriot President Glafcos Clerides, and Turkish-Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, was a positive sign. The two leaders are rushing to plug the open wound of Cyprus’s division ahead of EU membership in 2004 and stop the simmering conflict from coming to a head. But there has been no tangible progress so far, even though the two sides say June is a reasonable time frame within which to expect any breakthrough. Greek Cypriot media has speculated that Weston’s visit is designed to give the faltering process a decisive prod. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan plans to review the progress of the talks in early April. UN envoy Alkvaro de Soto, who has been mediating the talks, will come to New York to review progress with Annan after visiting Ankara on March 28 and Athens on March 29, UN spokeswoman Marie Okabe said on Tuesday. De Soto will also brief the UN Security Council, she said. The EU is to decide by the end of this year on when it will enlarge the union. Cyprus is a front runner for membership. Talks are held under a media blackout, but reports that have emerged suggest neither side has budged on positions which have kept a Cyprus settlement out of reach for years. A key difference between the two sides is the form of reunification sought. The Greek Cypriots want a single federated state made up of two regions, one Greek and the other Turkish. The Turkish Cypriots want independence in a union of two states loosely linked by a central administration. (Reuters, AP)
