ΦΩΝΗ ΚΥΠΡΙΩΝ – KIBRISLILARIN SESİ – CYPRIOTS’ VOICE
Communiqué
The Cypriots’ Voice Forum, having discussed the current socio-political situation and particularly the apparently stalled inter-communal peace talks, has reached the following decisions:
- The international community is losing patience at the lack of political will of all parties involved to proceed forward by showing the necessary flexibility and creative spirit. We interpret the UNSG’s statements of 18 November and the pronouncements in his Report of 24 November on Cyprus as explicit warnings that the UN Good Offices Mission in Cyprus is not an open-ended process.
- We call upon the two negotiators of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities to apply leadership and statesmanship qualities and to extend their loyalties beyond their respective communities to the whole of Cyprus. At a period when time for reunification is running out what is urgently needed is leaders with vision and boldness, ready to tackle the difficult issues in a creative future oriented spirit, envisioning the forest beyond the tree. Leaders should lead the society and not be led by phobic syndromes built up in Cyprus during the decades of national and communal hysteria and confrontation.
- It is high time we actively engaged all protagonists, i.e. the two communities of Cyprus, Turkey and Greece, as well as the UN and the EU and any of the UNSC permanent members that might be interested in and jointly accepted.
- During such a decision-making engagement, the parties directly involved should be ready to receive and discuss, in good faith, mediating ideas and proposals that can contribute substantially to the desperately sought for breakthrough on stalled issues where the two sides remain captive to entrenched positions.
- Meantime, we call for more transparency on the ongoing process so that civil society might be positively and creatively engaged in building the necessary social current towards a reunification federal solution. In the face of the resurgence of nationalism, of both communities, as a result of the fruitless prolongation of the talks, it becomes desperately urgent, at leadership level, to reach a settlement, and, at civil society level, to revitalize and give new impetus to the unification perspective.
- In order that the necessary positive buildup is created both in the negotiating process and the society at large, issues agreed upon should be publicly announced in a way binding to both sides.
- As regards the Territory and Property issues, we firmly believe that relevant provisions of the 2004 UN proposals might be a concrete basis on which to work for a win-win settlement taking into account practical ways of implementing human rights as these are expounded in the European Human Rights Convention, as well as political equality rights and the principles of federation as defined by the United Nations.
- With the aim of economic integration and interdependence which could facilitate social integration of the two communities, the EU needs to normalize trade with northern Cyprus. We call upon the Commission to withdraw partially the suspension, which would result in the EU rules on internal market, customs union, and free movement of goods becoming directly applicable to northern Cyprus. This implies that both sides should lift any restrictions on the free movement of goods and create the necessary institutions which will make transactions possible in accordance with EU rules and regulations.
Cypriots’ Voice – Communiqué no 14 – 12/12/2010