Cyprus talks: Some water in the glass...

Listening to Talat and exchanging opinions on the telephone with some prominent Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot people with insights to the process back on Cyprus, I concluded that the current situation in Cyprus peacemaking is very much like that glass with some water in it: For some the glass is empty, for some it is full and for us, it just has some water in it.

First of all, the impression that nothing was achieved in the process so far is wrong. Indeed, the two leaders have covered substantial ground on relatively less important subjects - including competencies of the future federal government, the creation of a two-chamber legislature, a crisis resolution concept and such -however, as regards the key question of power sharing and political equality, in the approaches of the two sides there is a sharp divergence which means unless something is done to facilitate a change in mentality and perception on the Greek Cypriot side, the process is doomed to collapse at some point.

Indeed, Talat was clear in stressing Friday that the main stumbling block for progress in the talks was the belief by the Greek Cypriot side that as an internationally recognized state and an European Union member since May 2004, it did not need an immediate solution and has the luxury of playing with time and avoiding a deadline for the solution...

2009 of course is an important date because of the European Union evaluation on Turkey’s compliance with the preconditions the union set in 2006 in opening accession talks with Turkey: Establishing normalcy with all EU members and extending the 1963 customs union deal to cover all new members of the EU, including the Greek Cypriot administration. Fulfilling either condition would mean Turkey abandoning the Turkish Cypriot people and recognizing the Greek Cypriot state as the "legitimate government" of the entire island.

A strong will is absent...
While of course it will be of crucial importance for the functioning of the future federal republic whether or not there will be a Swiss-type system with the presidency rotating between the members of a presidential council - which would as well be the council of ministers according to Turkish Cypriot proposal - or whether there will be a rotation of an elected president and vice presidents and a federal government established on the basis of political equality of the two constituent states, what’s important at this stage is whether or not the two parties on the island who pretend to negotiate establishing a new partnership state could indeed accept each other as equal partners, rather than die-hard adversaries fighting a domination war.

Indeed, there is some water in the "Cyprus negotiations glass." The two leaders have achieved some progress regarding certain details of the future functioning of some federal organs, and have laid down some principles which may help tackling some other thorny issues as well. However, what is lacking is sincerity. What is lacking is political will. What is lacking is a determination to bury past in history and build a new future on the basis of accumulated experience, a strong will and the EU reality.

Can there be a deal if Christofias is making a proposal for the election of the Greek Cypriot president and the Turkish Cypriot vice president on the same ballot through universal suffrage? If Greek Cypriots do not drop their ambition to dominate and manipulate the political preferences of the Turkish Cypriot people - who now because of migration and other factors comprise about 20 percent of the population of the island Ğ can there be a lasting settlement on Cyprus?

So far, it is unfortunate that there is absence of a strong will in southern Cyprus for a compromise settlement on the basis of political equality, bi-zonality and bi-communality.