Cypriot leaders call off military exercises

14/10/2008

The Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots decided on Monday to cancel their annual military exercises to ensure a more favourable environment for the ongoing direct reunification talks between leaders of the two communities.

(Cyprus Mail - 14/10/08; AP, AFP, DPA, Financial Mirror, CNA, Famagusta Gazette, Zaman, UN News Centre - 13/10/08)

Plans for separate war games by Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot forces were scrapped following talks Monday (October 13th) between leaders of the two communities. [AFP]

Separate annual Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot war games were called off Monday (October 13th) following a new round of reunification talks between the leaders of the two communities.

President Demetris Christofias announced the cancellation of the five-day Greek Cypriot military exercise, dubbed Nikiforos, less than 24 hours before its scheduled kick-off Tuesday. He said the move followed an earlier government decision to seek UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's backing for the postponement or cancellation of the drill and to ask the Turkish Cypriots to scrap their own regular war games, code-named Taurus.

The abolition of those regular large-scale military exercises would "improve the climate" and increase the chances of success in ongoing negotiations to end the Mediterranean island's 34-year-old division, Christofias told the Council of Europe last month.

Nikiforos, which involves National Guard conscripts and thousands of reservists, was cancelled between 2001 and 2004 as a confidence-building measure during the UN-led reunification talks at the time. The initiative ended in failure as Greek Cypriots overwhelmingly rejected the proposed settlement. The war games resumed in 2005.

Cypriot government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou described the decision to scrap Nikiforos this year as "a goodwill gesture" on the part of the Greek Cypriots, adding it was up to the Turkish Cypriots to decide whether to act likewise.

"Military exercises are not part of the ongoing dialogue… it is not a bi-communal action, if you will," he told the Cyprus Mail daily.

Later Monday, a Turkish Cypriot spokesman confirmed that the Taurus exercise, which typically follows shortly after the Greek Cypriot drill, was also being cancelled.

The announcement came several hours after Christofias and Talat held their fifth meeting since the launch of the direct reunification talks on September 3rd. The discussions focused on power-sharing and governance in the future bi-zonal, bi-communal federal state in Cyprus, one of the thornier issues on the agenda.

Observing a mutually-agreed-upon media embargo, Christofias would not comment on the outcome of the three-hour meeting at an abandoned airport inside the UN buffer zone dividing Nicosia.

"We are engaged in discussions. These are negotiations on many serious issues, and it will take time, so you cannot comment on a discussion each time it is held," he told reporters.

But Alexander Downer, the UN special envoy for Cyprus who is mediating the talks, said the two leaders were making progress. He stressed, however, that they could not be expected to reach an agreement on all issues on the table too quickly.

"Inevitably, there's a growing understanding between the two sides," the former Australian foreign minister told reporters. "You can't expect them suddenly to agree on everything on Day One and the whole matter to be resolved after all these years. It's going to take a lot of time, and it's going to be a difficult negotiation... But what you have here is the political will and the political will is very good."

Downer also said aides to Christofias and Talat would meet with experts Thursday for further discussions on the power-sharing issue, before the leaders meet again on October 22nd.