Presidential spokesman Barıs Burcu indicated that in spite of the fact that there is no timetable, every subject is on the tableat the Cyprus negotiations process.
At a live press conference yesterday Burcu said that this was his first press conference since Akinci came to office; he said he hoped to continue with more press conferences in the future.
Burcu said the aim of the press conference was to brief the press on the negotiation process and what had been achieved until now. Burcu said that on the subject of territory criteria studies were made but the map and percentages were not discussed.
Burcu touched on previous statements by Akinci where he said that he was not a magician with a magic wand; what he meant here was that if there were no reciprocal efforts from other parties, it would be hard to find a settlement on the island. He said everyone needed to ‘put their hand’ under the stone. He recapped on Akinci’s three dimensional approaches to the process – psychological, physical and tangible dimensions.
He noted that the new jargon and new process was supported by actions of the leaders both in social meetings and with confidence building measures.
Burcu said that on the subjects of Security and Guarantees, only the internal security was discussed and there were 5 papers on these subjects.
Burcu explained that one of the principles Akinci wanted was to have a speedy and effective negotiation process with the participation of the UN. Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed principle is still in play here today he added. Despite wanting a speedy process, there was no timetable. On the issue of territory, percentage, locations, names or maps have not been exchanged till now.
Burcu said the 4th leaders meeting to be held on the 29th of June would move onto the discussion of the core issues. Whilst the leaders negotiate, the technical committees will also be contributing to this.
Responding to one question, Burcu said that the process was at a more advanced stage than it had been originally. He said they saw until now that the GC negotiating teams had good will; they wanted political courage from them now as Akinci was leading.
On another question regarding Varosha and a feasibility study on it, Burcu said that this was a matter which was part of Akinci’s election propaganda; at present there was no urgent need for a study. But if there is, this can be looked into.
Burcu said that with the 4th leaders meeting a new phase will be entered and continued as: “Searching and scanning have been completed. We are starting the substantial negotiations on 29th June with the 4th leaders meeting.”