Anastasiades sets course for Geneva

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades is flying to Geneva on Monday ahead of an informal five party meeting held by the UN to ascertain whether there is common ground to push for a new round of peace talks for the divided island.

According to government spokesperson Kyriacos Koushos, Anastasiades is going to Geneva “with a positive attitude and he will approach the effort in a creative spirit.”

Koushos said the president is prepared for all contingencies after having consulted with members on his legal and negotiator teams, adding that a two-state solution is not acceptable to the Greek Cypriot side which was ready to go forward with talks based on previous UN resolutions.

Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides said Greek Cypriots were going to Geneva “steadfastly committed to resuming negotiations for reunifying Cyprus in a bizonal, bicommunal, federation.”

But Turkish Cypriots say hopes for a federal solution have long ended, accusing Greek Cypriots of not being sincere.

Greek Cypriots and Greece officially favor a federal solution at the negotiating table, while Turkish Cypriots and Turkey say federation is no longer a viable option, favoring instead a settlement based on two equal states.

“There is no common ground” said Turkish Cypriot Tahsin Ertugruloglu, who is charge of foreign matters in the north, adding recently that the issue at hand was “one island, two states.”

Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar are scheduled to meet in Geneva on Tuesday along with guarantor powers Greece, Turkey, and Britain, in a UN effort to ascertain whether renewed dialogue for peace could be possible despite huge disagreements between the two camps.

Greek Cypriots have cried foul over the composition of the informal 5+1 meeting hosted by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, after their proposal that the European Union would get a seat at the table was not adopted.

Guterres said he was seeking a way forward to ascertaining whether meaningful talks on the Cyprus problem could resume after many failed attempts.

Separate meetings with Guterres will take place on Tuesday while Anastasiades and Tatar will meet Wednesday. While the meeting is officially scheduled through Thursday, reports said the informal event could be extended through Friday if there were signs of common ground.