President Nikos Christodoulides on Thursday promised to do “everything humanly possible” to bring about progress towards a solution to the Cyprus problem, as he spoke on the sidelines of a parade to mark ‘Ochi Day’, the anniversary of Greece’s entry into the Second World War.

“A meeting took place yesterday in a very positive atmosphere. The discussion was constructive, and I hope, this is what I wish to promise the Cypriot people today, on such an important day for Hellenism, that I will do everything humanly possible to ensure positive developments,” he said.

He had met Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman on Tuesday, and said after that meeting that both he and Erhurman had “agreed not to make further statements regarding specific issues” related to the Cyprus problem until, at the very least, United Nations Cyprus problem envoy Maria Angela Holguin arrives on the island on Thursday.

Both leaders had also met the bicommunal technical committees on cultural heritage and on youth, as well as the civil society steering committee, following their one-on-one meeting.

Of those meetings, Christodoulides said that they were “constructive” and that “various views and suggestions were put forward” by committee members.

He added that those suggestions will be discussed by himself and Erhurman going forward.

Christodoulides insists Varosha proposal is ‘mutually beneficial’

Prior to Tuesday’s meeting, Christodoulides had stressed that his proposal to open and repopulate the fenced-off area of Varosha under the United Nations’ administration and open the port of Famagusta under the European Union’s control is “mutually beneficial”.

“I believe this is a mutually beneficial proposal. It creates a positive situation for both sides and serves as a practical test of whether we are truly committed to moving forward, specifically by taking bold confidence-building measures which also send a strong message to society as a whole,” he said.

Erhurman had said last week that he had rejected the proposal, lamenting that it fell short of an entry into force of the European Union’s direct trade regulation.

“Is this the entry into force of the direct trade regulation? No, it is not the entry into force of the regulation, but since [the port] would be under EU control, direct trade would begin,” he said.

As such, he said, the proposal was unbalanced.

The direct trade regulation is a pending EU regulation which would allow Turkish Cypriot goods, as certified by the Turkish Cypriot chamber of commerce, to be exported directly into Europe via the Green Line, and given preferential treatment inside the European single market as European goods.

It was proposed in July 2004, three months after the rejection of the Annan plan to reunify Cyprus by the Greek Cypriot side in a referendum, and shortly after the Republic of Cyprus’ accession to the EU.

Menelaou had cited progress on crossing points

Previously, Greek Cypriot chief negotiator Menelaos Menelaou had said that a dispute over the routing of the planned transit road between Athienou and the Nicosia suburb of Aglandjia “has been overcome”.

He said that the outstanding dispute now remains over the question of whether a planned crossing point to connect Louroujina, the southernmost Turkish Cypriot village, with nearby Lymbia, will open at the same time.

The Turkish Cypriot side’s position is that the road between Athienou and Aglandjia constitutes two crossing points, one in Athienou and one in Aglandjia, and that they are part of a package of four alongside plans for a crossing point in the eastern Nicosia suburb of Mia Milia, and one in Louroujina.

However, the Greek Cypriot side treats the road between Athienou and Aglandjia as one crossing point, counterweighted by the Mia Milia crossing point, and is therefore of the view that the Louroujina crossing point should only be opened if a second transit road, through the Turkish Cypriot Kokkina exclave in the Tillyria region, also be opened.

Playing host to the Famagusta municipal council at the presidential palace on Monday, President Nikos Christodoulides said that his proposal about the fenced area of Famagusta, was still on the table despite the other side having rejected it. He also dismissed criticism that he had revived an old proposal – a similar one had been made by President Tassos Papadopoulos in 2005 – because he had built on that.

He also made the contentious claim that the old proposal “had advanced considerably and we were close to having a result.” According to the proposal, which was the same as that made 21 years ago, the fenced area of Famagusta would be handed over to the UN who would oversee the return of the town’s legal inhabitants and in exchange Famagusta port would be opened under the authority of the EU.

The obvious question is, how could a proposal that was rejected by the other side still be on the table? Was the president just telling the Famagusta mayor and councilors what they wanted to hear? And although his proposal was rejected, he told his guests: “It is an issue that I want us to discuss today and to see how we can enrich it, shape and change it so that with your contribution we can have a positive result, because I consider it would be that issue we are looking for at this moment – if we all want to prove that we mean in practice that we are working for a solution of the Cyprus problem – bold confidence-building measures.”

There was no announcement informing us whether the Famagusta municipal council enriched the president’s proposal, which was rejected but was still on the table, during Monday’s meeting. Government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis, however, claimed the proposal for the fenced area of Famagusta was “absolutely aligned with the priorities set by the UN Secretary General.”

Surely, the priorities of the UNSG are agreement on the seven confidence-building measures he set as conditions for the process moving to the next stage, which would be 5+1 meeting. There has been no agreement on any of the proposed measures, so why would he introduce a much more complicated measure that would require years of negotiation to reach an agreement?

If the president is as keen as he claims on securing the resumption of talks, why does he not agree on the UN-proposed CBMs? This would open the way to the broad conference that he has been angling for, and possibly a resumption of talks, before the UN Secretary-General steps down at the end of the year. Does he not realise that coming up with new proposals every week achieves nothing other than delaying agreements on the actual measures that are key for any progress?