Image via WikipediaThree years before President Demetris Christofias' election, the US diplomatic machinery was discussing ways to ensure a new round of peace talks were "Cypriot-led" yet remained within UN auspices, not the EU, according to US cables released by WikiLeaks.
The Cyprus edition of Greek-owned Kathimerini published an article on Sunday documenting a number of US diplomatic cables in the autumn of 2005 showing that the US wanted to see a "Cypriot-led" process which remained within the UN and did not get lumped on to the EU agenda.
The cables from the US embassies in Nicosia and Athens reveal a change in tactic a year and a half after the 2004 referenda, with US diplomats coming to the understanding that US vocal support of certain provisions in the Annan plan was being used by the Tassos Papadopoulos government to "poison" public opinion against the plan and present it as an "Anglo-American conspiracy to benefit Turkey and punish the Greek Cypriots".
In a confidential cable sent on September 29, 2005, the US Embassy's number two in Nicosia, Jane Zimmerman, said US support for the UN Good Offices and request for clarity on Greek Cypriot demands has been distorted by the Greek Cypriot leadership and media in a way which harms US interests.
She called for a re-evaluation of American public discourse, recommending US diplomats limit themselves to expressing support for the UN Secretary-General, the Good Offices mission, and for a solution in general, not specifically the Annan Plan.
The Cyprus issue should be left where it belongs, firmly positioned within the UN auspices, rather than be transferred onto the EU agenda, she said.
The US diplomat also highlighted the need to raise the importance of Cypriots taking ownership of the peace process. At the end of the day, the initiatives have to come from Cypriots themselves, she said.
The Nicosia-based diplomat called on the US not to get bogged down in how a new round of peace talks would start in relation to the Annan plan.
Put simply, substantial changes to the UN solution plan would have to be made to make it acceptable to the Greek Cypriot side and pretending otherwise won't help, she added.
The cables reveal that the Nicosia Embassy did not agree with Papadopoulos' assertion that the Greek Cypriots had clarified to the UNSG what they want, noting that the Cypriot president considered those who disagreed with him on this as Ankara's water-carriers, a term which seems to have great impact on the Greek Cypriot public, she noted.
On October 7, 2005, the US Embassy in Athens made its own observations, noting in a cable that US efforts to get Athens to put pressure on Papadopoulos would be met with difficulty. The embassy recommended that in the short-term, Greece state that the locus of efforts should remain within the UN, and not the EU. In the medium term, issues need to be identified which are important to Papadopoulos but for which he needs Greece's help. That way, the US may find ways to exercise the right amount of pressure.
Other recommendations were made to keep the UN Security Council on board for the UN process, particularly Russia and China, while finding two or three key EU members who agree with the view that the EU is not the right place to seek a comprehensive solution of the Cyprus problem.
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