Assem El-Kersh sounds out Cyprus' Foreign Minister in Nicosia on the island's outlook and worries in the run-up to an election year In a recent survey published by the London-based Financial Times you were quoted as finally acceding to a two-state solution for the Cyprus problem. Is there a shift in the official Cypriot position? Definitely not. I have not seen the article, but what I told the interviewer is that we have recently seen a noticeable and dangerous change in the official attitudes of Turkey that threatens to split the island. All along we knew that the aim of Ankara was to partition the island. But at least until recently, Turkey was willing to talk to us and negotiate a peace settlement. It is only after 2004, that the Turkish government started promoting this idea of two separate states in Cyprus through the Organisation of Islamic States. This will surely lead to a confederation? Yes, the problem is that they are calling openly for two separate states for two different peoples with different religions. This is very dangerous and it is a new tone as far as we are concerned. In living together with our ethnic Turkish compatriots, religion has never been a problem in the island. People have been living side by side for generations. Yes, we are Christians and we speak Greek and they are Muslims and speak Turkish, but we are all compatriots. Yet, to come and propose this problem of separation based on religion is very dangerous. Not only for us, but also for the whole region. Now with such talk on partition, should this not be a fresh incentive on your part to start talks again soon? We want to start negotiations. We are serious about finding a solution. We have been saying this over and over again. Especially since we signed an agreement with Mehmet Ali Talat [leader of the predominantly ethnic Turkish de facto Northern Republic of Cyprus] last year. It is an agreement on principles, but also an agreement on the procedure we will follow. Turkey has been applying delaying tactics for a year and a half now. It has also tried to present us with a number of procedural problems. When they don't want to implement an agreement, they start their usual delaying tactics. They are trying to play with time. And now, after a year and a half when Mr Talat met with our president he is proposing partition and new ideas altogether. On 5 September, he tried to introduce changes including the idea of timeframes. We are against time frames as they presuppose a priori agreement. In our case, we first need to prepare the ground. We need to make these talks work so that when we start actual negotiations we will be successful. And, this is what the secretary-general of the United Nations advised us to do. Yet the other side says that you are trying to put off any serious talk, that you do not have any real incentive to negotiate. No, no. This is not true. At this point our territory is occupied, and many of our people are refugees. And, I know that you can empathise with what I am saying as an Arab citizen. All these terms -- refugees, occupied territories -- are very common to you. Why on earth would we not want to have a solution? We would like to see our territories returned and we would like our refugees to return home. We want a true solution that will reunify our country and our people. Not a solution that is not durable and functional. Still you are being accused of distancing yourself from the North. This is the impression many parties have. Not so? No, we never tried to alienate ourselves from the Turkish Cypriot community. We are doing everything possible using different measures to mend fences with the Turkish Cypriot community. The EU has already adopted a resolution for financing development programmes among the Turkish Cypriot community worth 259 million euros. We proposed this in 2004. And, we are working with our partners in Europe to realise some of these projects. It is important that these projects would result in the reunification of the country. Contacts between the two communities are important. What we cannot accept and we are not willing to engage in is any form of acceptance of the secessionist entity on the island. But we have no problem in contacts between the two communities. And, recently [Cypriot] President Tassos Papadopoulos put forward the idea that civil society groups will be meeting parallel to the official negotiations so that social contact between civil society in the two communities will contribute positively to the negotiations. Talk is very easy, but do we have a roadmap in hand for a just solution to the Cypriot problem? What is important is for the two communities to start immediately implementing the terms of the 8 July 2006 agreement. Very soon we would have a roadmap because we will start tackling all the core issues of the Cypriot problem. And, at least we will have suggestions for the leaders. When the ground is well prepared then we can start fresh negotiations. The agreement was our initiative. The result of these discussions will be on the table. If there is a will there is a way. We have goodwill. Not only do we have difficulties with the Turkish Cypriot leader, but we also have Turkey proposing partition. This is a new and dangerous proposition. Relations between Cyprus and Egypt have come a long way since the tragic assassination in 1978 of the Egyptian renowned writer Youssef El-Sibaai in the island by Palestinian gunmen. How did both countries manage to turn a new leaf in their friendly joint march? And, what could be done to further strengthen the bilateral ties? The relations between Cyprus and Egypt are historic longstanding relations of friendship and cooperation. There are dimensions concerning our mutual struggles against foreign hegemony that strengthened them to such an extent that they were able to withstand that tragic moment in 1978. The personal friendship between our late leaders Archbishop Makarios and President Nasser was proverbial. The two countries decided to ignore the provocations and to honour the memory of Youssef El-Sibaai, himself a valued friend of Cyprus, by continuing the march towards their common interests for the benefit of both countries and people. Today a further dimension has been added to our traditional friendship. With the determined efforts of both our governments, numerous bilateral agreements have been signed between us and already we are at the stage of their promotion and implementation. Whether on issues of the law of the sea, agriculture, tourism or education our respective ministries are not allowing agreements to gather dust on shelves, but rather pursuing their implementation with vigour and determination. We both value our relations with each other and that is why their future is bright. From the practical point of view, Cypriot entrepreneurs are already investing in many areas in Egypt while at the same time a large number of Egyptian citizens are employed by Cypriot companies in Cyprus. We are determined to nurture and strengthen this relationship, in every way possible and to the best of our abilities. Are you troubled by the strengthening of Turkish-Israeli relations? We are not worried about close collaboration between Israel and Turkey. We cannot stop other countries from having ties with Turkey as long as our interests, UN principles or our relations with these countries are not compromised. Would you be willing to trade your approval of Turkey's membership in the EU for a just solution? We are not trading anything with Turkey. They have an obligation to support the efforts to solve the problem but they are doing the opposite. I have said it so many times, that the Turkish military are behind these hardline policies. We hope this will change. Are we going to witness a different handling of the issue if President Papadopoulos wins a second term in office in February? I think President Papadopoulos will continue his efforts being even more vigilant. Hopefully there would be some new initiatives on the part of the UN. But unfortunately our position regarding the negotiations is that we could have started now and not lose such important time until the elections. But Talat refuses to give a present to the president. How far can Cyprus use its close proximity to the Middle East to act as a bridge between East and West, Europe and the Arab world? As you know Cyprus does not only have a close geographic proximity to the Middle East. It also has a long-standing and historical working relationship with all the countries of the area. It is a relationship characterised by friendship and mutual respect that emanates from the principled positions, and not positions of selfish opportunism, that Cyprus has maintained throughout the years. This general acceptance of Cyprus' policies, which were amply exemplified by Cyprus' role during the latest crisis in Lebanon, the diffusion of the crisis in the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem and the numerous meetings organised in Cyprus to promote the cause of peace in the Middle East, enables Cyprus to act as an honest broker in facilitating contacts and exchanges among the various parties involved in the Middle East problem. At the same time with Cyprus' accession to the European Union (EU), the country has brought the EU physically to the doorstep of the Middle East. Furthermore, Cyprus is a country which lies in the heart of the Middle East and which for years was a member of the Non-Aligned Movement and has a particular understanding of the problems and sensitivities prevalent in the area. That being the case, with its entry in the EU, the area has not lost one of its members but rather it has acquired its own ambassador within the European Union. The simple and short answer based on what Cyprus desires is that there are no limits to what our government is willing and ready to contribute. It has for example very recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the League of Arab States thus formalising a longstanding relationship and friendship with individual Arab countries with the totality of the Arab world. It is now up to us to make full use of it and to take advantage of Cyprus' dual character.
