Lillikas marks softening in tone
The Cypriot government is putting the screw on Turkey over what was apparently agreed in Paris between President Tassos Papadopoulos and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on February 28th.
In a statment by both Annan and Papadopoulos, it was reported that there was agreement from Turkish Cypriots too to start talks on technical issues.
While the Greek Cypriots maintain that they agreed to start technical talks on matters of substance, the Turkish Cypriots and Turkey have argued that there was no such agreement about bringing matters of substance into the talks.
The disagreement on semantics has allowed the Cypriot government, lately blamed for being the main obstacle to a Cyprus solution, to present Turkey as the unwilling partner.
Thus, Cypriot Government Spokesman George Lillikas said on Tuesday that Turkey has not given the go ahead to implement the decisions agreed during the Paris meeting.
Lillikas added that the Greek Cypriot side insists that it is ready to implement everything that was agreed any time, noting “we are not worried that Turkey will gain something, provided that we will not be damaged by it”.
Replying to questions, Lillikas said that it is “important for us that Turkey gives its consent to enable the UN Secretary-General put into effect everything that was agreed and to start the procedure that was agreed upon in Paris”.
For us it is not so important whether this takes place today or after the meeting Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul will have with UN SG Kofi Annan or his counterpart Condoleezza Rice, Lillikas remarked.
“We insist on everything that was agreed and we are ready to put them into effect any time that the SG invites us”, the Spokesman added.
Asked if he has any information from the UN on the forthcoming meetings of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General to Cyprus and UNFICYP Chief of Mission Michael Moller, Lillikas said “in order for an agreement to proceed it demands good will and political readiness from both sides”.
Lillikas, a marketing man by profession who appears to be adopting a less hostile tone than his lawyer predecessor, Kypros Chrysostomides, said “We do not have any information, and I do not want to turn this into a ‘blame-game’ and start apportioning responsibilities.”
“What we are interested in is to give a real chance to this procedure, to allow time and the ability to the UN and all other countries which want to play a positive and constructive role to address Turkey and persuade the country to consent to starting the procedure”, the Spokesman concluded.
