Talks on Cyprus could start again, but Turks rule out UN plan. Greece suggests summit in February or March
Athens
``Anguish'' and ``regret'' are the terms Greek politicians are using to express their feelings about the breakdown of a United Nations-sponsored summit aimed at ending the 10-year division of Cyprus. The Greeks blame what they call Turkish and Turkish Cypriot ``intransigence'' for the collapse.
But Greek officials and opposition figures say they continue to support the negotiation efforts of UN Secretary-General Javier P'erez de Cu'ellar. They say a new summit should be called in late February or early March to discuss outstanding issues. It is still possible, they say, to work toward what the two sides last year agreed to: formation of a federation on the Cyprus, which has been divided since the Turkish invasion in 1974.
Well before the last week's summit, however, there were indications that the Greek and Turkish Cypriots remained far apart on crucial issues.
Cyprus President and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash maintained that the purpose of the meeting was to sign an agreement negotiated during talks at the UN last year. Greek Cypriot leader Spy- ros Kyprianou argued the summit was convened to negotiate on four disputed points that he said must be resolved before any agreement could be signed.
The four issues left unresolved in the earlier UN talks are: (1) whether 20,000 Turkish occupation troops in the north of Cyprus would be withdrawn; (2) where the demarcation line between the Turkish- and Greek-Cypriot regions would be; (3) the nature of rights to move, own land, and settle on the island; (4) what sort of international guarantees there would be to safeguard any settlement.
But last week's summit never really got going because of these differences.
Greeks have condemned the ``ultimatum-style'' demand to sign what is termed here a ``phantom agreement.'' Government spokesman Dimitri Maroudas praised Kyprianou's ``constructive attitude'' and accused Turkey of being ``chiefly responsible for the intransigent stance of the Turkish-Cypriot side, the undermining of the UN . . . efforts.''
Some few Greeks say that although last year's Turkish-Cypriot concessions toward a federation were important, they were little more than a ploy to satisfy world public opinion, particularly the US, which is pushing for a settlement. They say they expect Denktash to try to consolidate the division of Cyprus.
``We knew the final phase [of the talks] would be very difficult,'' says Costas Calligas, a veteran political analyst.
One opposition leader asserts, ``It will all depend on Washington's political will.'' The question, he says, ``is whether Reagan will complete . . . what he began when he pressed the Turks last November or whether that was just a maneuver to help the Turks, to permit the Americans to give the Turks more aid.''