BUERGENSTOCK - Delegations from Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Turkey, Greek Cypriot side and Greece met on Wednesday night at a dinner in Buergenstock, Switzerland, diplomatic sources said on Thursday.
The diplomatic sources noted that thus, Turkish Cypriot, Greek Cypriot, Turkish and Greek delegations, who failed to hold the quartet conference yesterday, met around a table for dinner last night for the first time since the cease-fire talks held immediately after the Cyprus Peace Operation of 1974.
United Nations (U.N.) Secretary General Kofi Annan's Special Envoy to Cyprus Alvaro De Soto also participated in the dinner.
The same sources said that the parties were expected to hold a four-party meeting on Friday.
Turkey's uneasiness about the failure in holding the meeting among TRNC, Greek Cypriot side, itself and Greece and about the indefinite situation in Buergenstock had an important role in the decision to hold the four-party meeting on Friday, the sources noted.
The same sources said that Turkish Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul signaled the U.N. that ''he might not come to Switzerland for the quartet conference after he attended the spring meeting of the European Council in Brussels'' if the indefinite situation continued and if the four-party talks were not held.
Parties who focused on Cyprus issue uninterruptedly in Buergenstock for three days are at the same time waiting Kofi Annan.
Sources said that Annan was expected to come to Buergenstock on March 28 and firstly evaluate recent developments in the quartet meetings with De Soto.
U.N. sources noted that Annan was expected to meet separately with the four parties on March 29 if there was no change in his schedule.
Annan is expected to go to Tunisia on March 30 for a meeting and return to Buergenstock the same day.
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan is expected to present the parties the final shape of his plan which he will change taking into consideration views and proposals of the parties on March 31. Parties will start to evaluate the final shape of the plan after they receive it.
Meanwhile, simultaneous referenda to be held in the two sides in the island on April 20 may be postponed to a later date if there is a deviation from the schedule set to be followed in Buergenstock.
Sources said that De Soto was trying to learn the views of the parties to hold the simultaneous referenda on April 25.
In the meantime, Turkish side, which attaches vital importance to make an agreement to be reached in the island a part of European Union (EU) law, states that the best agreement to be reached will be meaningless if a satisfactory settlement is not found to the derogation issue.
TRNC sources stress that they will launch a campaign to call on TRNC citizens to cast a negative vote in the referendum in case a satisfactory settlement on derogations is not reached in the ongoing Cyprus negotiations.
TRNC and Greek Cypriot side started Cyprus negotiations in the island on February 19 in order to find a fair and lasting solution to Cyprus issue before May 1 on the basis of Annan plan.
According to Cyprus negotiations schedule, two sides were expected to attend a quartet conference together with guarantor powers Turkey and Greece after March 22 to discuss issues on which they could not reach any compromise.
The quartet conference was expected to start in Buergenstock, Switzerland on Wednesday. However, the four-party meeting did not take place among delegations from TRNC, Greek Cypriot side, Turkey and Greece in Buergenstock on the first day of the quartet conference.
Delegations did not hold any bilateral meeting either.
Meetings to be held as a part of the quartet Cyprus conference were limited only with the meeting between Turkish Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul and his Greek counterpart Petros Moliviatis, and separate meetings between United Nations (U.N.) Secretary General Kofi Annan's Special Envoy to Cyprus Alvaro de Soto with Gul and Moliviatis.
U.N. Secretary General Annan will fill in the blanks left in the plan if participants can't reach any compromise in quartet meetings, and the text to be formed at the end of all these initiatives will be voted in referenda to be held synchronously in the Turkish and Greek Cypriot sides on April 20.
(BRC-AÖ) 25.03.2004