UN reviews Cyprus situation after wall taken down

The United Nations and some of the permanent members of the Security Council appear to be examining arrangements in view of possible developments in the Cyprus problem, after the demolition of a wall along the dividing ‘Green Line’ in the capital Nicosia.

After talks with the UN Secretariat, the US State Department and the UK Foreign Office, Britain is ready in April, when it assumes the presidency of the Security Council, to call a meeting on the issue, in order to be briefed on the situation by the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative Michael Moller, the Cyprus News Agency reported.
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is examining the possibility of inviting Greek Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat to New York for talks.

The climate at UN headquarters is quite optimistic, as the messages sent by Moller from Cyprus to the Secretariat are positive and indicate that the two sides are quite close to a compromise in implementing the July 8, 2006 agreement fro the establishment of technical committees to investigate any progress on the divided island.
Diplomatic sources expect a clearer picture over the next fortnight and it is possible that Ibrahim Gambari, former Deputy Secretary General for Political Affairs, would be assigned the Cyprus dossier, the CNA report said.
The Cyprus problem is also expected to be high up on the agenda of a meeting next week in New York between Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyiannis and the UN chief.

Diplomatic sources told CNA that, despite the positive messages from contacts in Nicosia, the key to implementing the July 8 agreement lies with Turkey, which is entering a pre-election period, and also depends on whether or not the international community will show tolerance to Ankara.

The sources added that since Turkey was not pleased with the July 8 agreement from the beginning, if the Americans and British do not give her any alternatives, apart from the agreement, at the end of the day Ankara will have to participate in talks.