Roundtable Meeting: Recent Developments in the Negotiation Process in Cyprus

A roundtable meeting was organized by the Global Political Trends Center (GPoT) on the recent developments in Cyprus.

A roundtable meeting was organized by the Global Political Trends Center (GPoT) on the recent developments in Cyprus with the participation of the President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Mehmet Ali Talat. The meeting was attended by the media representatives and members of the civil society and many aspects of the negotiation process in Cyprus were discussed. The first issue tackled during the meeting was the international character of the isolations that have been imposed on the Turkish Cypriots for long years now. Considering the process that will follow the negotiation talks, that is the harmonization to EU rules and regulations, at this point continuance of the isolations cannot be deemed as acceptable. For example, the visit of an Estonian committee was cancelled due to the reactions from the Greek Cypriot side. The committee from Estonia was supposed to come and attend meetings on the EU harmonization process in Cyprus as well as the customs automation project. However these meetings were not realized due to the reactions. According to President Talat, isolations are one of the most important challenges that stand before a comprehensive and long-lasting solution. The isolation problem did not start today, its effects go all the way back to the first time they were imposed. President Talat continued to talk about the meeting that is going to take place on the 3rd of September with President Christofias. He said that the meeting on the 3rd is only about the timing of the negotiation process and how the committees will continue working. The real talks will start after the 11th. The Greek side wants to take the process slower and conduct meetings once a week. There is a general consensus at the Greek side, there is concerted action. They can furnish this because they can meet at a common objective and have a common perspective that is the Turkish invasion. Another example to this is the non-existence of Turkish ads on Greek Cypriot newspapers. In Turkish Cypriot newspapers one may find many advertisements for Greek Cypriot enterprises but on the Southern side there are no such visual expressions. That is due to the fact that there is a consensus on that side about the Turkish question. It is not illegal but the newspapers choose not to publish those. The most important thing right now for the Turkish Cypriots is the support from the international community. Currently all trade is done through the port in Limassol, however there is no activity in Famagusta. These are all part of the harmonization process. The sooner some matters are handled, the better it will be with regards to the EU integration process.