CYPRUS: UN-BROKERED TALKS OPEN WITH FEW SUPRISES,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 NICOSIA 000713

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/SE, EUR/ERA, IO/UNP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/04/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV TU CY
SUBJECT: CYPRUS: UN-BROKERED TALKS OPEN WITH FEW SUPRISES,
MANY REDLINES, AND GOODWILL BETWEEN TALAT AND CHRISTOFIAS.

Classified By: Classified by Ambassador Frank C. Urbancic for reaons 1.
4(b) and 1.4(d).


1. (C) Summary: UN-brokered full-fledged negotiations to
resolve the Cyprus Problem recommenced on September 3, with
leaders Mehmet Ali Talat and Demetris Christofias
participating in a mostly-ceremonial two-hour gathering
with UN Special Advisor Alexander Downer. After airing the
usual
redlines, the two leaders hammered out procedural
questions in what, according to our UNFICYP contacts, was
one of their very best encounters to date. There seemed to
be a fair amount of give and take, with the leaders making
concessions to each other regarding how often to meet (once
a week) and what topic to tackle first (power-sharing and
governance). While clearly off to a good start,
negotiations will most likely drag into 2009, as the
low-hanging fruit is picked first and the two leaders
eventually
start to discuss issues on which there is little convergence,
such
as security, guarantees, and territory. End Summary

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"One of the best meetings yet"
--------------


2. (C) Our UNFICYP contacts report that the largely
ceremonial September 3 kick-off of UN-brokered full-fledged
negotiations was "one of the best meetings yet" between the
two Cypriot leaders, who called each other by first name
throughout the two-hour meeting. This cordiality carried
over in a brief Q/A session with the press, where both
men appeared relaxed and jovial. Their seeming calmness
is both notable and welcome in light of the turbulent
run-up to September 3, when Turkish Cypriot authorities
(on orders of the Turkish military, according to one Talat
insider)
banned Greek Cypriot worshipers from making a one-time
crossing through
closed Limnitis/Yesilirmak checkpoint for church services,
and
G/C negotiator George Iacovou stormed out of a meeting with
his T/C counterpart Ozdil
Nami.

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Power-sharing and Governance First on the Agenda
-------------- ---


3. (SBU) Judging from the announced results of the meeting
and
our contacts, observations, both leaders engaged in a
genuine give
and take. They agreed to tackle at their next meeting
(September 11)
power-sharing and governance, a T/C demand and a topic on
which there is a considerable amount of convergence. Talat
had
initially wanted to discuss EU and/or Economic issues next--
both low-hanging fruit on which
there exists considerable common ground -- but agreed to move
on to property next after
Christofias said he needed to address an anxious G/C public
demanding progress on land.
Talat noted that the property issue would cause him
problems within his own community, too.


4. (SBU) The leaders will employ a three-classification
triage system to each
given topic, addressing immediately those areas on which
there is
the most convergence, while sending topics on which there
is less back to the expert working groups with specific
guidance on how to proceed.
They will put aside for later those points on which there is
little or no agreement.
To coincide with the leaders' discussion of power-sharing and
governance, that particular
working group (WG) will reconvene, and technical experts from
the WG will join
the leaders and top negotiators at the September 11 session.
Meetings will continue once per week for the foreseeable

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future (T/Cs, who would like to accelerate the process as
much as possible,
had sought twice-a-week encounters, but Christofias demurred,
citing other head of state/government responsibilities).

-------------- ---
Redlines and Recriminations Don't Spoil the Show
-------------- ---


5. (SBU) Neither leader was shy in airing well-practiced
red lines and gripes, both during the negotiations and
publicly afterwards, but did not allow them to sour the tone
or the
substance of the first meeting. G/C leader Christofias
complained that the leaders had not been able to set up a
Working
Group on Turkish "settlers," open the Limnitis crossing point
despite
a commitment by both leaders, or make any progress on
territory.
He also rejected "virgin birth" (the notion that a
post-solution
Cyprus will not be a mere continuation of the RoC in a
federal state,
but rather a new entity born of a federation of two separate
societies),
continuation of the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee that gives
Turkey the explicit authority to intervene to protect the
Turkish Cypriot community, and strict timetables for the
negotiation. Finally, Christofias stated that the 1977
High-Level Agreement, former President Makarios' effort to
craft a framework for a bizonal, bicommunal federal Cyprus,
was the "limit" of G/C concessions.


6. (SBU) Talat presented a shorter list of redlines that the
G/Cs will have trouble accepting.
They include continuation of the Treaty of Guarantee and
Treaty of Alliance,
and a stipulation that a post-solution Cyprus would consist
of two equal constituent states, as agreed in the leaders'
May 23 statement but later walked back by Christofias. Talat
repeated these same themes in a televised address to the
Turkish Cypriot community on September 3, where he both
expressed commitment to a solution and chided prior G/C
efforts to dominate his community.

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When will Limnitis Open?
--------------


7. (C) In the negotiating room, the UN asked both leaders
point-blank how to proceed on opening the Limnitis/Yesilirmak
crossing point, which would ease travel to Nicosia for Greek
Cypriots living in
far western Cyprus. Although Christofias and Talat had
agreed to open it, the deal has hit resistance, both over
money -- it will cost over six million euro to reconstruct
the road -- and over T/C attempts to link Limnitis,s opening
to expanded T/C access to Pyla, a mixed village in the
southeastern sector of the Buffer Zone. UN sources report
that Talat genuinely seemed troubled by his side,s inability
to spur progress on Limnitis, and only once mentioned Pyla.
Both leaders have delegated their negotiators to address the
crossings issue further, and a Talat confidante told us that,
while Pyla is still on the table, they were discussing
alternatives. The insider also blamed former "Turkish Peace
Forces" Commander Kivrikoglu, who recently departed Cyprus,
for preventing the passage of Greek Cypriot worshipers via
Limnitis.

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"Good Will but No Guarantees"
--------------


8. (C) COMMENT: Both leaders during their post-negotiation
press
conference promised "good will but no guarantees". All signs
point to a
lengthy and at-times contentious process that is likely to
drag
well into 2009 as the leaders take on issues
such as guarantees and security, on which the sides have
diametrically-opposed views. End Comment.

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Urbancic