UN Secretary General`s Special Advisor on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide has said that it is very important for everyone to act responsibly and avoid further escalation.
Eide, who was speaking after a meeting he had on Wednesday with Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades at the Presidential Palace, in Nicosia, said his mandate has not changed and he would continue to talk to both sides.
He is due to meet Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu later on Wednesday.
“I had a very constructive and interesting and important meeting with President Anastasiades”, he said, adding that “I will later today see Kudret Ozersay and after that the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community Mr. Eroglu”.
Eide noted that he “will continue to talk to both sides about how to develop the ideas for finding a solution to the Cyprus problem”.
“I recognise that this is a very tense moment because the situation has become more complex given the developments at sea,” he noted, reiterating that his previous statement “that there are strategic reasons why the status quo is utterly unacceptable”, still stands.
This, he added, “has been stated by both leaders and the recent developments just underline the need to work as hard as possible to reach a settlement as soon as possible”.
Replying to a question on how he can continue his efforts when there is no peace process, Eide said that “my mandate has of course not changed. I will continue to talk to both sides, we have defined a set of issues to discuss”.
He expressed hope that “we will be able to have the leaders meet at a later stage but in the meantime I will talk to them about what could be the content of our process when it restarts”.
Asked how the gap can be bridged, he acknowledged that when maritime disputes come up they are serious everywhere in the world.
“It illustrates one of the points I have raised earlier in my presence here, which is that oil and gas can be either a blessing or a curse”, he said.
If it is well managed, he noted, “it will be a source of wealth for all Cypriots”. If, he added, “it becomes a source of tension, it will be a problem for everyone and then it will be more of a curse than a solution”.
“It is very important now that everybody acts responsibly and avoid further escalation and that as soon as possible we create an understanding that oil and gas resources are as President Anastasiades repeatedly stated for all Cypriots”, he stressed.
Asked whether he will be talking to Ankara, he said that “I will of course visit Ankara soon and I am in contact with them as I am with the other guarantor powers”.
Asked when it can be expected that the two leaders will meet, Eide said that “this is a decision the leaders have to make”, adding that “I cannot force people to meet”.
“I hope that will be soon but while they are not meeting I will keep talking to both”, he reiterated.
President Anastasiades announced yesterday his decision to suspend his participation to the negotiations, following Turkey`s most recent violation of Cyprus` sovereign rights in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and its decision to carry out a seismic survey in specific blocks, assigned to international companies within Cyprus` EEZ.
