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Ban’s visit was reduced to a spat
UN Secretary-General with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat in the north
THE TURKISH Cypriot leadership set a “trap” for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on his visit to the north in an effort to upgrade their status, which “boomeranged” on them, said government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou yesterday.
According to Stefanou, Ban had been tricked into meeting Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat at the ‘presidential palace’ in the north, despite an earlier agreement to hold the meeting at his residence next door. The move backfired as UN Special Adviser Alexander Downer was forced to issue a statement clarifying that “the Cyprus Republic is the only recognised state and that Mr Talat is nothing more than the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community,” he said.
A source close to the talks said the decision to bamboozle the UNSG and his team was a “stupid” one which had only short-term gains.
“It shows disrespect to the UNSG. Talat probably did it to increase his popularity but at what cost? Time was wasted on this incident which could have been spent getting more substance from the visit.
“The two leaders have reached a stage when they’ve nearly agreed on almost everything in the governance chapter. But the moment to make a substantial announcement while the UNSG was here was lost. Talat may have miscalculated there.”
Regarding the decision of four Greek Cypriot parties not to attend Ban’s reception as a result of the location change, one diplomatic source described it as a “very childish way of behaving to score some cheap political points”.
“I think it’s a very immature way of behaving especially since you have a chance to meet with him and tell him what you think.”
He added that people should not lose focus of the bigger picture, which is that the UNSG took time from his demanding schedule to try give some impetus to the process. “It is absurd to reduce that to a spat about where he met the leader of the Turkish Cypriots. It’s a disservice and injustice to the process.”
Other diplomatic sources yesterday confirmed that Ban was due to visit Talat at his residence on Monday, but that the location of the meeting was changed last minute, forcing Ban and his team to go to the ‘presidential palace’ in the north. The notification came as Ban made his way from the Ledra Street crossing to Talat’s offices, almost moments before his arrival. One source ventured further to say that the move proved costly to Talat as it cast a shadow over the visit, resulting in the low-key statements made at the joint press conference by Ban and the two leaders.
Stefanou said the effort to “create impressions…boomeranged”, as even the UN showed surprise by the change of location. Even those within the Turkish Cypriot community agreed that the move had backfired, he added.
“When we say the UNSG was trapped, which then boomeranged. ‘Trap’ is a very strong word. Nobody sets up a trap for a good purpose,” said Stefanou.
The boomerang did not stay north, however, as four Greek Cypriot parties, DIKO, EDEK, the Greens and EVROKO felt the change of location warranted a boycott of the reception held by Ban at the Ledra Palace that night. DIKO’s Fotis Fotiou said yesterday Downer could have been “clearer” in his explanatory statement while EDEK’s Yiannakis Omirou found no positives from the visit, which “left a bitter taste”.
Talat was quoted in the Turkish Cypriot press saying that if Ban had forced him to meet elsewhere, “the meeting would not happen and the visit would be a fiasco”.
A high-ranking Turkish Cypriot official yesterday told the Cyprus Mail that there was no violation or change of the agreement between the Turkish Cypriot side and the UN.
“All we told the UN orally was that we would respect past practices. There is ample precedence for this. (Former UNSG) Kurt Waldheim visited the same building, as did (former British Home Secretary) Jack Straw and (European Commission President Jose Manuel) Barroso,” he said.
The senior official said the only reason former UNSG Kofi Annan met former Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash at his residence during his visit to Cyprus was because the offices next door were under construction.
“There was no pressure by the Greek Cypriots at the time, and the UN didn’t bow down to pressure. In the past, there was never any conditionality like this,” he said.
While few murmurs were heard during Barroso’s visit, Straw’s demand to see Talat in his offices in 2006 did create quite a commotion, with former president Tassos Papadopoulos snubbing the British minister during his visit to Cyprus.
Contrary to Turkish Cypriot accounts, a diplomatic source confirmed that the UN delegation was “quite surprised to find out when they arrived where the meeting was going to take place”. By that point, “it was too late to do anything about it”.
