PRESS BRIEFING BY SPECIAL ADVISER ON CYPRUS

Press Briefing

PRESS BRIEFING BY SPECIAL ADVISER ON CYPRUS

At a Headquarters press briefing this afternoon, the Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Cyprus, Diego Cordovez, said he wanted to dispel any notion that Glafcos Clerides, leader of the Greek Cypriot community, and Rauf Denktash, leader of the Turkish Cypriot community, were not interested in an agreement. During the talks held at Troutbeck, New York, last week, the two leaders had shown much good will, good faith and a commitment to negotiate and reach an agreement, he said. Both seemed very aware of the consequences for Cyprus if they did not reach an agreement.

Mr. Cordovez said that he and the Secretary-General had proposed to change the old approach, by which work was carried out on a preview agreement with the aim of turning it into the legal instruments that would constitute a comprehensive settlement. Instead, they had suggested, as a short cut, going straight to the legal instrument, since the positions of both parties were well-known. Together with the United Nations, the two leaders could work out a single text, including such additional issues as territorial questions, displaced persons and security, which they had been discussing for the past 30 years. "You cannot change the issues, but you can change the way in which you work towards an agreement", Mr. Cordovez said. "This is what they were trying to do."

It was not easy to change the negotiating process when the parties were used to a particular system, Mr. Cordovez said. During the Troutbeck talks, he had explained the advantages of the proposed system, stressing that a sustained process would also be an incremental process. Thus, the parties would try to reach agreement on certain issues and move forward from there at subsequent meetings. Under the old system of negotiations, they would always start from "zero". They would then try to reach an agreement on everything "and ended up agreeing on nothing". Still, it would be a package in which "nothing will be finally agreed until everything is agreed".

In the negotiations on Cyprus, the parties faced historical elements, grievances and difficulties that kept surfacing and which sometimes interfered with the procedure, Mr. Cordovez said. The parties tended to deal with those issues in great detail, instead of concentrating on the issues at hand. Nevertheless, the atmosphere during the Troutbeck talks had been excellent, and the discussions had been unprecedented in their cordiality. The meetings were of a different nature and had a different format from the past.

Elaborating on the nature of the talks, Mr. Cordovez said he had held formal meetings with the parties and their advisers, as well as private discussions. He had also met the parties separately. In addition, the two leaders had breakfast and lunch and "walks in the woods" together.

The leaders had cooperated fully in his effort to change the approach to negotiations and to adopt a new procedure, Mr. Cordovez said. Nevertheless, the defining moment would come at the next meeting. The leaders had taken back to Cyprus for discussion suggestions about the modalities for a sustained negotiating process, which would begin after the elections in Cyprus. Those proposals addressed the political, institutional and juridical framework for such negotiations. The leaders also decided to have a meeting in Nicosia, even though it was politically sensitive for them to meet outside of the United Nations process. However, they would meet before the next United Nations-sponsored talks to discuss humanitarian questions, which would help the United Nations talks.

Mr. Cordovez said that, in the Security Council this morning, he had stressed the high level of support from the Council and from the international community. The Council, in turn, had welcomed his report of the good atmosphere at the Troutbeck talks. Mr. Cordovez added that it had been agreed in principle that the talks would resume in Switzerland on 11 August, when the leaders would return with specific reactions to his proposals.

A correspondent said that Mr. Cordovez had stated that when the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders met in Nicosia, they would only discuss humanitarian matters. Why had it been decided to begin the negotiations with a non-paper, the reactions to which were already well known? Mr. Cordovez said that he had made some suggestions regarding the modalities for the process, as well as the content. He would not go beyond that.

If the atmosphere at Troutbeck had been so positive and constructive, why hadn't the follow-up meeting in Geneva been confirmed yet? a correspondent asked. Mr. Cordovez said the parties had to consult in Cyprus before any confirmation could be given.

Would the negotiations in Switzerland touch upon issues in the non- paper, or would there be a discussion of territorial adjustment? a correspondent asked. How likely was it that a statement could be signed by the end of the round of talks? Mr. Cordovez said there would be a discussion of the parameters for the negotiating process, dealing with the relevant legal instruments. That would begin next year. What he was asking for now was an agreement on those parameters and on the modalities for the negotiating process.

Had it come as a surprise that a common statement was not signed at this time? a correspondent asked. "I did not want that to happen", Mr. Cordovez said. "I wanted them to consider very carefully the changes in approach that we are making, to be able to discuss it with their own people." At this stage, it was important to firm up the good atmosphere between the two parties.

Cordovez Briefing - 3 - 14 July 1997

Did he then feel that if the Geneva meeting was confirmed, there would be an agreement? a correspondent asked. Mr. Cordovez said there might be one or two more meetings. The issues were very tricky, and people should not underestimate the difficulty of the process.

Had there been any discussion of a time-frame for reaching an agreement? a correspondent asked. What role would be played by other special representatives and national representatives?

In reply, Mr. Cordovez recalled the Secretary-General's words at the opening of the talks, that the United Nations was initiating "a sustained process of open-ended negotiations". The parties themselves said they wanted to reach an agreement as soon as possible. However, the worst mistake outsiders could make was to underestimate the difficulties. The issue had a long history, there were all kinds of very tricky events in the past, and parties to the negotiations had themselves been actors in some of the events. They, therefore, felt very personally about them.

Had there been anything in the talks to indicate support on both sides for a "broadly-federal" solution with substantial autonomy for each side? a correspondent asked. Mr. Cordovez said he had been amazed at the amount of gossip and publicity leakages, to which he would not contribute. There were certain things that should be more or less private in such negotiations.

To another question, Mr. Cordovez said the substantive discussions would probably begin next year. The legal instruments to be discussed still had to be prepared.

A correspondent asked about the future role of United Nations peace- keeping in Cyprus. Mr. Cordovez said the issue would be discussed at some point in the proper context.

Asked if he might have overestimated the cordial atmosphere, given that the issue had persisted for 34 years, Mr. Cordovez said he was a "compulsive optimist". Still, he had never been in a negotiation where the two interlocutors had such a relationship. That was important. As of now, the personal relationship between the two individuals was excellent.

Asked why the issue had persisted for 34 years, Mr. Cordovez said he was sure the correspondent was "a much better judge" of that. It might well have been that the negotiating techniques used in the past had not been the most conducive to an agreement. However, that remained to be seen.

Asked why he thought there had been such an excellent atmosphere between both men, Mr. Cordovez said that it might be a mixture of things. The men were good friends who had shared much in their youth. It was the history of friendship in the midst of a terrible conflict which had obviously interfered with that friendship. At the talks, they had got along together, teased each

Cordovez Briefing - 4 - 14 July 1997

other, bothered each other and told jokes. They also had a common objective and knew that an agreement would be good for their peoples. They were both patriots. In contrast, there had been negotiations in which, for six years, he could not even put the two interlocutors in the same room.

Asked to what extent he felt the sustained process might be influenced by "Cyprus, as well as European processes", Mr. Cordovez declined to comment. Did he think United States intervention might become necessary to salvage the United Nations process? "Not to salvage the United Nations process", Mr. Cordovez replied, "because this is something that they are going to negotiate." The agreement would not be reached by United States President William Clinton or by Richard Holbroke or Kofi Annan, but by Mr. Clerides and Mr. Denktash.

"We are all helping them, and each one has a role in this cooperative effort, and I welcome any help that I can get from any quarter", Mr. Cordovez said. "And certainly, any help that the United States can give them is going to be very significant."

A correspondent wanted to know why Mr. Cordovez did not take advantage of the excellent atmosphere to complete the talks. Mr. Cordovez said he had not wanted to do that, because he understood the dynamics of the talks. He wanted the negotiators to "go back, have time to reflect, examine each thing". There was nothing worse than putting people together and pressuring them into agreeing to something they might later regret.

To a comment that the talks had been scheduled to last until Sunday, but were "cut short" on Saturday, Mr. Cordovez said their duration had been sufficient.

A correspondent said Mr. Cordovez had stated that the talks had gotten past "ground zero" and could now move on to the "sustained" discussion level. However, President Clerides was quoted in the Greek press as saying "we are still at a very preliminary stage". In addition, two members of Turkey's new hard-line Government were known to be hard on the Cyprus issue, which Mr. Denktash might take as a further strengthening of his side. How did Mr. Cordovez interpret those comments?

Mr. Cordovez said that every time negotiations were held, there would be all kinds of opinions. He did not understand the "plus-zero" or "minus-zero" kind of terminology. "I am just telling you about the atmosphere, what we are trying to do, what we expect to happen in the future."

Asked about the status of the legal instruments to which he had referred earlier, he said a procedure was being devised with respect to them, but that he could not say more until it was adopted. Asked if he thought there was a big gap on the positions", he said there was. Asked how big that gap was, he said "enormous".

Cordovez Briefing - 5 - 14 July 1997

A correspondent asked for a comparison between the atmosphere at Troutbeck and that in Dayton, Ohio -- venue of the Bosnia peace talks. Mr. Cordovez said he had not been at Dayton, but he had been long enough in "this business" to know that a negotiation was like any human relationship. The negotiators were two human beings who had interests, positions and so on. Depending on the circumstances, the atmosphere was different when they got together.

The Troutbeck talks had been much better than anything he had dealt with in the past, Mr. Cordovez said. "I have had to deal with the Soviets and the Americans, the Afghans, the Pakistanis. I had to deal with a situation in which one of the interlocutors was Colonel Muammar Ghaddafi." Mr. Clerides and Mr. Denktash were "two extremely courteous gentlemen" who had joked and generated a great atmosphere.

Didn't the correspondent think Mr. Cordovez should have been impressed by that? he asked. In reply, the correspondent asked if Mr. Cordovez thought the interlocutors had merely been buying time. Not at all, Mr. Cordovez said.

* *** *