False start looms ahead of DiCarlo visit

A Greek Cypriot proposal to involve a select group of EU officials in the Cyprus Problem has been rejected by Turkish Cypriots, as UN Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo prepares to visit the divided island before her Brussels trip.

President Nikos Christodoulides, who assumed office just last week, has been pushing for a more active and greater EU involvement in the Cyprus Problem.

But the south’s new Greek Cypriot leader calling on Brussels to get involved has been met with resistance from his counterpart in the north, as local media said Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar has dismissed the idea.

Tatar, who is scheduled to meet with Cyprus’ UN top official Colin Stewart on Friday to discuss DiCarlo’s visit to the island, has been calling for sovereign equality between the two sides as a basis for peace talks.

Turkish Cypriot media said Tatar remained open to cooperation between the two sides on the divided island but also insisted only the two communities along with the UN and the island’s three guarantor powers -Greece, Turkey, Britain- ought to take part in peace talks.

Christodoulides, who previously served as former minister, insists on previous UN decisions that called for a federal solution to the Cyprus Problem.

The President has also been floating the idea that specific EU officials could play a greater role in peace negotiations.

"I am taking about the need for a more active and greater involvement of the EU within the framework of the United Nations," Christodoulides said last month.

According to the Cyprus News Agency, Di Carlo will hold separate meetings Christodoulides and Tatar next week, when she is expected to encourage the two sides to find common ground for the resumption of negotiations.

The impasse has made work more difficult for Cyprus’ UN top official Colin Stewart, who offered to help break the ice between the two leaders.