Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08NICOSIA916
2008-11-20 14:50:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Nicosia
Cable title:  

CYPRUS: UNFICYP PLEASED BY LATEST LEADERS'

Tags:  PREL PGOV UNFICYP CY TU 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO5786
RR RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHNC #0916/01 3251450
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 201450Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY NICOSIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9344
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1263
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NICOSIA 000916 

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/19/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV UNFICYP CY TU
SUBJECT: CYPRUS: UNFICYP PLEASED BY LATEST LEADERS'
MEETINGS

REF: A. NICOSIA-EUR/SE EMAIL OF 11/05/08

B. NICOSIA 910

Classified By: Ambassador Frank C. Urbancic, Reasons 1.4 (b),(d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NICOSIA 000916

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/19/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV UNFICYP CY TU
SUBJECT: CYPRUS: UNFICYP PLEASED BY LATEST LEADERS'
MEETINGS

REF: A. NICOSIA-EUR/SE EMAIL OF 11/05/08

B. NICOSIA 910

Classified By: Ambassador Frank C. Urbancic, Reasons 1.4 (b),(d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: The quickening pace of leaders' meetings and
some recent progress on Governance issues have heartened the
UN negotiating team, according to UNFICYP Senior Adviser
Wlodek Cibor. In a November 19 meeting with Embassy staff,
Cibor recounted recent developments in the negotiations and
reported the sides aimed to move to Property by early
December. UNFICYP's twice-yearly report on peacekeeping
operations and the newly-established Good Offices Mission was
in New York awaiting clearance. Associated Security Council
deliberations begin on December 5. END SUMMARY.

--------------
Pace Quickens, Moods Brighten
--------------


2. (C) Three leaders meetings in seven days constituted a
"miracle" and a "marathon," UNFICYP Senior Adviser Wlodek
Cibor chuckled in an hour-long meeting with Emboffs November

19. Even better, Republic of Cyprus President Demetris
Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat had
agreed to a full slate of meetings before year-end -- on
November 25, December 8, December 16, December 22, and
December 28. Both sides were cognizant that the earlier,
slower meeting pace was not helping to convey a sense of
seriousness to their electorates and the international
community, hence the get-togethers during the Christmas and
Bayram holidays when most of Cyprus shuts down. On November
25, the UN expected Christofias and Talat to discuss the
as-yet-undiscussed issues in the Governance portfolio, with
the goal to move to discussion of Property matters on
December 8. Not all Governance items had fallen into the
"Convergence Basket," he clarified. After nine leaders'
meetings, the sides' positions were close on the makeup and
functions of the federal judiciary, technical entities like
the meteorological and statistics services, and the Attorney
General's Office and Comptroller-equivalent. Significant
problems remained on overall federal versus constituent state
competencies, the structure of the federal executive, and the

workings and GC/TC numerical breakdown of the federal
legislature.


3. (C) Cibor expected that UN Special Adviser Alexander
Downer, who had officiated over the recent meetings and had
just departed the island, would return on/about December 11.
The UN intended to propose a modalities change to coincide
with the opening of Property discussions. Instead of the
leaders diving into a detailed agenda and attempting to reach
convergence line-by-line, Cibor previewed the UN position
that they instead table their bigger-picture stances, then
delegate the negotiations grunt-work to chief negotiators
George Iacovou and Ozdil Nami and their respective staffs.
In this way, the leaders might cover more ground and be able
to present a picture of greater progress to their
constituencies. Property discussions looked far more
difficult than those on Governance, however, both because the
sides' populations had vested interests and because the
relevant working group had proven unable even to draft a
joint agenda for the leaders' consideration. It was vital
they agree to some form of assistance from UN-contracted
experts to bridge expected gaps, Cibor thought.

--------------
Report Still in Draft Mode, and Close Hold
--------------


4. (C) After lengthy discussions in New York, higher-ups in
the Peacekeeping (DPKO) and Political Affairs (DPA)
Directorates had determined not/not to return to UN practice
of the Annan Plan years (2000-2004) of preparing two separate
reports for the Security Council. Instead, a single report
would contain both references to UNFICYP (peacekeeping)
activities and developments in the Good Offices Mission (Ref
A). UNFICYP chief SRSG Taye-Brook Zerihoun intended to
present the report at a closed session of the Security
Council on December 5, Cibor revealed. A draft of the report
had already gone back to New York, where it would go through
plenty of edits. In a break from past procedures, Zerihoun
did not intend to share a pre-release report with local UK
High Commissioner Peter Millett in order to aide the British
Government -- traditionally the lead drafter of the
accompanying UNSCR that rolled over the UNFICYP mandate.
(Comment: We are not surprised with the ultra-cautious
Zerihoun's decision. Cibor promised Emboffs a bootleg

NICOSIA 00000916 002 OF 002


version of the UNFICYP report the week of November 24,
however, and we assume he'll be passing it to our British
counterparts as well.)


5. (C) Cibor offered little on the content of the UN draft.
On one of its most controversial aspects -- how it referenced
Turkish Cypriot isolation -- December's version would parrot
language from June 2008's. That report infuriated the T/Cs,
since prior mention of the north's "isolation" had been
"downgraded" to a "sense of isolation." The UN diplomat
expected blowback from Talat, but he thought it would pass
quickly. "Greek Cypriots will be angry as well," he
concluded, since they believed isolation to be a myth
propagated by the T/Cs.


6. (C) At the November 17 meeting, G/C negotiator Iacovou
had pushed for mention in the December report of a November
14 incident southwest of the island, in which the Turkish
Navy had chased off RoC-chartered research vessels conducting
seismic soundings (Ref B). Iacovou noted that The RoC UN
permrep had sent a similar, formal message to UNSYG Ban
Ki-Moon. UNFICYP was divided over the matter, Cibor claimed.
Since the incident had occurred some distance off Cyprus,
mention of it seemingly did not fall within with the
peacekeeping operation's mandate. Neither Christofias nor
Talat had mentioned the maritime incident at the open portion
of the meeting, but Cibor ventured it had come up in their
one-hour one-on-one (Note: The Ambassador discussed the
incident with Talat on November 19; details to be provided
Septel.)


7. (C) UNFICYP also was mulling mention of a recent firing
range incident in Buffer Zone. A Turkish- or T/C-fired
practice mortar shell had landed on a G/C house abutting the
BZ, puncturing the roof but thankfully causing no injuries.
That Talat so quickly took responsibility and apologized
publicly seemed a positive development in UN eyes.
Christofias did take a dig at Talat, accepting the apology
while noting that the T/C leader "cannot control the
activities of the Turkish military on Cyprus."

-------------- -
Confirmation the "Straw Rule" Remained in Play
-------------- -


8. (C) The conversation next turned to the G/Cs' "Straw Rule
(named after former UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who, on
an unofficial visit to Cyprus in 2006 during which he met the
T/C leader, was snubbed by then-RoC President Tassos
Papadopoulos). Cibor confirmed that Greek Cypriots continued
to pressure high-level visitors to avoid formal calls on
Talat. RoC Foreign Minister Kyprianou had explained that
"bilateral visitors, who really had no connections to Cyprus
Problem negotiations, had no need to see the T/C leader in
his so-called Presidential office." In the G/Cs' estimation,
that category of visitor included European Commissioners,
such as Vladimir Spidla, Czech Commissioner for Employment,
Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. Spidla, who arrives
in Cyprus on November 20, supposedly had wanted to see Talat,
but eventually acceded to G/C pressures (Note/Comment:
according to local Commission contacts, the Commissioner will
cross north, but only to visit the EU's program support
office, as did the visiting Australian FM in October. Such
GoC influence over EU structures explains the deep-seated
Turkish Cypriot rejection of the EU as a guarantor of T/C
rights on the island.)
Urbancic