Cyprus UN envoy says failure in reunification talks not an option

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

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"They really have to succeed, because I think the alternative is ... a fairly dark future for Cyprus. I think it is going to be very tough for them if this fails," Alexander Downer, a former Australian foreign minister appointed envoy for Cyprus last year, told in an interview with Reuters.   

Relaunched in September 2008 after a four-year hiatus, Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat and his Greek Cypriot counterpart Demetris Christofias have been involved in reunification talks aimed at reaching an agreement to end the island's decades-long division.

The talks mark the first major push for peace since the failure of a U.N. reunification plan in 2004, which was approved by Turkish Cypriots but overwhelmingly rejected by Greek Cypriots.

Downer told Reuters that the sides were making "steady progress". Encouraged by the leaders' commitment to the process, he said however it was important that momentum be maintained in the negotiation talks to reunify the island that was divided in 1964 when Turkish Cypriots were forced to withdraw into enclaves.

"What other moment in history is going to occur which gives them an opportunity to reunite their country? ... You can never say never ... but this problem gets harder by the year to solve," Downer said.

"It is important that the public understand the two leaders are committed, they are serious about it. It is not some public relations exercise," he added. "This is a genuine attempt to solve the problem in a new environment."

"I am cautiously optimistic about the process. I wouldn't have taken up this job if I didn't have some optimism for it," Downer said.

Talks are proceeding chapter by chapter. Negotiations are in a "first reading" stage while diplomats say issues which the sides have disagreed on will be debated in a second review.

The third stage is expected to feature the tough bargaining and any deal agreed by the sides needs to go to a public referendum.

The U.N. envoy declined to say when he expected the talks to conclude. "It would be a mistake to set actual deadlines," he said.

"If you set an actual date, the problem with that is that you will create a sense of crisis around the date, which makes the negotiation more difficult."

However, he said the present process must be finite. "To try to spin it out indefinitely is to condemn it to death, so there needs to be momentum," Downer said.