PRESS BRIEFING BY SECRETARY-GENERAL'S SPECIAL ADVISOR ON CYPRUS

Press Briefing

PRESS BRIEFING BY SECRETARY-GENERAL'S SPECIAL ADVISOR ON CYPRUS

Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said that he believes the time had now come for the parties to the Cyprus problem to "move ahead" with meaningful negotiations leading to a comprehensive settlement.

He made the statement to His Excellency Mr. Glafcos Clerides and His Excellency Mr. Rauf Denktash, at separate meetings he had with them today, Alvaro de Soto, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Cyprus, said at a Headquarters briefing this afternoon. The Secretary-General also said that he had concluded that the "equal status of the parties must and should be recognized explicitly in the comprehensive settlement which will embody the results of the detailed negotiations required to translate this concept into clear and practical provisions".

The statement read to correspondents by Mr. de Soto, stated as follows:

"The Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot parties have been participating, since December 1999, in proximity talks to prepare the ground for meaningful negotiations leading to a comprehensive settlement. I believe the time has now come to move ahead.

"In the course of these talks I have ascertained that the parties share a common desire to bring about thorough negotiations in which each represents its side -- and no one else -- as the political equal of the other, a comprehensive settlement enshrining a new partnership on which to build a better future in peace, security and prosperity on a united island.

"In this spirit, and with the purpose of expediting negotiations in good faith and without preconditions on all issues before them, I have concluded that the equal status of the parties must and should be recognized explicitly in the comprehensive settlement, which will embody the results of the detailed negotiations required to translate this concept into clear and practical provisions." (The Secretary-General's statement has been issued separately, as Press Release SG/SM/7546.)

Mr. de Soto said the Secretary-General had met in the afternoon, first with Mr. Clerides, and then with Mr. Denktash. He had made a number of points to them, particularly about how he saw the process unfolding and the basic guidelines which he expected to be followed, among other things, in respect of relations with the press.

The Secretary-General had repeated his wish that there a moratorium on contacts with the press, both on substance and procedure be strictly observed, in the interest of the good conduct of the process -- for which confidentiality was essential, Mr. de Soto said. The Secretary-General had invited Mr. Clerides and Mr. Denktash to meet with Mr. de Soto starting tomorrow. He had also told them that he was allowing for the possibility that he would, at appropriate times, join the talks personally, Mr. de Soto told the press. He added that the Secretary- General was prepared to take a somewhat more active role in the talks than he had done until now.

Responding to questions, he said no invitation by the Secretary-General to any of the parties had been rebuffed.

A correspondent recalled that the Secretary-General's mandate was to "keep his foot in the door" in his good offices mission. The United Nations solution was a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation, the correspondent further observed, and he asked why the two specific terms were not used in the Secretary-General's statement. Replying, Mr. de Soto said that as he had stated earlier, the Secretary-General had made "a number of points". The last paragraph of his statement did not purport to enshrine all of the United Nations positions in those talks. One of the points the Secretary-General had reiterated was that his mandate emanated from the Security Council. The Secretary-General, in his good offices, was acting pursuant to resolution 1250, which clearly asked that full consideration be given to all relevant Security Council resolutions. "That, of course remains in effect", Mr. de Soto said.

Asked what he meant by the "more active role" the Secretary-General would play, Mr. de Soto said the Secretary-General had told both Mr. Clerides and Mr. Denktash that he was considering joining in the talks at appropriate times while they were in New York in the course of the month.

A correspondent asked for an elaboration of the Secretary-General's statement about recognition of the equal status of the parties, and whether this meant political equality, as defined in United Nations resolutions. Mr. De Soto said the precise meaning of equal status of the parties had to be translated into a clear and practical legal provision which would have to be part of a comprehensive settlement. An elaborate definition of that point would have to await the conclusion of negotiations on a comprehensive settlement, he said.

Asked wither this represented a movement away from the United Nations definition of political equality, Mr. de Soto said that the language used was comparable to that used in the Secretary-General's report on his good offices of June 1999.

A correspondent asked whether the Secretary-General's statement had satisfied both parties and also inquired whether they were now ready to move to direct negotiations. Mr. de Soto said the Secretary-General did not ask for approval of his statement. With regard to the second question, he said the key was the Secretary-General's statement that he believed the time had now come for the process to "move ahead". The Secretary-General was not specifically proposing "face-to-face" negotiations. The terms of his invitation to the parties talked about meaningful negotiations, he said. "That is what we are encouraging the parties to engage in". If that had to be face-to-face, he said, perhaps at the appropriate moment that might be required. "But in the meantime we don't view that as a necessity, and nor are we pressing for it", he stated.

Asked about the parties' responses to the Secretary-General's statement, Mr. de Soto said he would not characterize the responses. "They were interesting meetings", he said.

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