CYPRUS: There was now "a real chance" of achieving a united Cyprus which would join the European Union on May 1st, the UN Secretary General's Special Adviser on the issue, Mr Alvaro de Soto, said in Dublin yesterday, writes Deaglán de Bréadún, Foreign Affairs Correspondent
There was "a very tight negotiating frame in the coming few weeks". However he added: "We have a real chance now, and the political momentum is considerable. There have been some important changes of position with respect to the failure of efforts last year and they give us heart."
When asked if there was sufficient political will on both sides, he answered: "One of the things that we have perceived in the course of the last week is a change in mindsets. We have a totally different background from that which we had a year ago."
Asked what had changed Turkish thinking, he replied: "As I understand it, Turkey has come to the conclusion that it is a problem that should not continue to fester and that needs to be solved on its own merits."
The Peruvian-born UN official was en route from New York to Brussels and eventually Cyprus where talks on the reunification of the island are to reconvene on Thursday.
"The EU is very supportive of the Secretary General's efforts and very interested in being kept abreast of the efforts under way," Mr de Soto said.
He would be meeting the European Commission in Brussels today.
Mr de Soto was speaking to journalists after a meeting with the Taoiseach which lasted almost an hour.
Last week, following a discreet request from the UN Secretary General, Mr Kofia Annan, the Taoiseach was in contact with senior figures in both Turkey and Cyprus.
"The parties and everybody else must work to carry this effort over the finish line in time for May 1st," Government sources said.
"The Secretary General and Mr de Soto have brought this closer to a settlement than it has ever been."
In a statement in advance of the meeting, Mr Ahern said: "These negotiations offer a real opportunity to achieve this historic objective."
Following three days of meetings and consultations, the Secretary General announced last Friday that the Greek and Turkish Cypriots had committed themselves to negotiating in good faith on the basis of his plan to achieve a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem through separate and simultaneous referendums, to take place before May 1st, 2004.
The parties will seek to agree on changes and complete the plan in all respects by March 22nd. In the absence of such agreement, the Secretary General will convene a meeting of the two sides - with the participation of Greece and Turkey - in a concentrated effort to agree on a finalised text by March 29th.