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DE RUCNDT #0453/01 1242328
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O 042328Z MAY 09
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6458
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000453 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV UNFICYP UNSC CY
SUBJECT: CYPRUS: SPECIAL ADVISOR DOWNER BRIEFS THE SECURITY 
COUNCIL 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY.  The SYG's Special Advisor for Cyprus, 
Alexander Downer, told the Security Council on April 30 he is 
"cautiously optimistic" about the current negotiations over 
reunification of the island.  The two leaders had made 
"steady progress" since talks began in September 2008, but 
the negotiations needed more momentum or they could "atrophy 
and die".  He warned against the international community 
trying to impose solutions, but also said the two sides 
needed reminders of the need to compromise.  He asked the 
Council to stay involved with the issue and to reinforce 
through its statements and resolutions that it had "high 
expectations."  All Security Council members offered support 
for Downer and backed a Presidential Statement (PRST) from 
the Council to publicly underscore this support, though the 
Turkish Ambassador made clear he did not think the PRST was 
balanced.  Ambassador Rice and several other speakers urged 
the Secretary-General to look for ways to increase the 
momentum of the talks and acknowledged the need to encourage 
the leaders of the two communities to make compromises.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
------------------------------ 
DOWNER "CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC" 
------------------------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) The Secretary-General's Special Advisor on Cyprus 
told the Security Council in closed consultations on April 30 
that he is "cautiously optimistic" that the negotiations 
between Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Christofias and Turkish 
Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat that began on September 3, 
2008 could succeed.  The current negotiations were an 
unprecedented opportunity to reach a settlement, he said, and 
the two leaders were sincere in their efforts.  Downer 
reported that the two leaders had made steady progress on 
several "chapters" of the talks since they began in September 
2008, including power sharing and governance, property, EU, 
and economic matters.  The "core of hard issues"--security 
guarantees, territory, and status of settlers-- had not yet 
been broached, and he thought he would have a better sense of 
where things stood after the first pass through all chapters. 
 During the next phase of negotiations, he would try to 
resolve areas where there was room for compromise and set 
aside the most difficult questions until the end. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Downer did not know when the process might reach its 
final stages. The talks could not be spun out for years, he 
said.  They needed to maintain momentum or they would 
"atrophy and die".  The Greek Cypriots, were resistant to 
setting timetables, but in broad terms, Downer assessed that 
a certain momentum had been maintained.  In addition to the 
26 meetings between the two leaders, representatives of the 
sides and subject matter experts had met on numerous 
occasions.  Downer emphasized that the two sides would need 
"constant reminders" from the international community (IC) of 
the need to compromise.  This could not be seen as a zero-sum 
game. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Downer emphasized that the talks were being held 
under UN auspices, but his involvement continued to be 
part-time.  He sees the role of his Good Offices mission as 
assisting the sides to reach an agreement, but not to act as 
an arbitrator or to impose solutions on them.  He reinforced 
that the issues need to be resolved by the local people 
themselves, as they will need to be put to the populations in 
simultaneous referenda.  He said it is essential that the 
solution have the support of the leaders who will have to 
convince their people to support the settlement, adding that 
the IC should be "cautious and thoughtful about how we 
provide help."  Downer thought the IC could be helpful by 
finding opportunities to meet with the leaders and emphasize 
their support for the talks.  The Security Council could also 
support the process by focusing on the issue from time to 
time, and by emphasizing in its statements and resolutions 
that the Council has high expectations for the process. 
Downer thought the Presidential Statement to be issued by the 
Council would also be a helpful signal. 
 
------------------------------- 
Strong Support from the Council 
------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Speaking in response, every Council member offered 
their continuing support to Downer's efforts through the UN's 
Good Offices Mission, stressed the need to increase or 
maintain the momentum, welcomed recent confidence building 
measures, and acknowledged the need to reinforce with the 
sides that they would need to compromise.  United Kingdom 
Ambassador Sawers, first to respond to Downer, remarked that 
the current round of negotiations had a different quality 
from previous efforts to resolve the Cyprus question, and 
 
USUN NEW Y 00000453  002 OF 002 
 
 
that it was up to the communities to reach a solution.  He 
emphasized that the talks could not go on forever, and it 
would be important to push toward a conclusion. Sawers 
introduced the draft Presidential Statement (PRST), which he 
said had been widely vetted with the parties. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Ambassdor Rice commended the progress made so far in 
the talks, as well as the confidence building measures that 
had been undertaken by the leaders.  She recognized that the 
next phase of negotiations would require compromise from both 
sides, and that the Council would need to support and 
encourage them in bringing the talks to a conclusion.  Rice 
observed that UNFICYP had been in place for a long time, and 
that it could not stay forever.  She urged Downer to seek 
ways to increase the momentum of the talks, so that the 
unprecedented opportunity to reach a settlement would not be 
lost.  She reinforced that the United States stood ready to 
assist the sides in reaching a lasting settlement that 
reunifies Cyprus into a bizonal and bicommunal federation. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Turkish Ambassador Ilkin also expressed optimism 
that the current negotiations could be successful.  He 
lamented that former Greek Cypriot President Tassas 
Papadapoulos had lobbied against Greek Cypriot approval of 
the UN's reunification plan in 2004, but he thought that 
current Cypriot President Christofias was sincerely working 
toward a settlement.  Ilkin expressed disappointment at the 
pace of the negotiations and noted that the first pass 
through all chapters had been slated to be complete by the 
beginning of May.  He also said he thought Special Advisor 
Downer "should give more and more guidance" to the talks as 
they progressed so that they could be completed by December 
¶2009.  Ilkin said he would go along with the draft PRST, but 
he thought it was not a balanced text.  He said he felt boxed 
in by the fact that word had already spread that a PRST was 
under consideration, and that if the Council now did not 
issue a PRST, it would send the signal that the Council was 
divided. 
 
¶8. (SBU) France emphasized the need to ensure that the 
negotiation process remained Cypriot-owned, and that Downer 
needed to maintain the trust and confidence of both sides. 
Russia, China and Libya echoed the French call for the 
process to remain in the hands of the two leaders and also 
emphasized that the settlement needed to be on the basis of 
previous Security Council resolutions.  Costa Rica recalled 
Resolution 1251 (1999), pointing to its call on all concerned 
to hasten the withdrawal of demilitarization of the island 
and to reduce spending on armaments.  Croatia urged that the 
two leaders begin to prepare their people for an eventual 
settlement.  Some members, including Burkina Faso and 
Austria, expressed the hope that the results of recent 
Turkish Cypriot elections would not weaken Talat's 
negotiating hand. 
Rice