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UN / CYPRUS
STORY: UN / CYPRUS
SOURCE: UNTV
TRT: 2.02
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS
DATELINE: 30 APRIL 2009, NEW YORK CITY/ FILE
FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior UN building
30 APRIL 2009, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Downer walking to the microphone
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Alexander Downer, UN Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus:
“As of April 2009 the leaders met since the negotiations formally began on the third of September, 26 times. So, they’ve certainly been meeting frequently, their representatives have met on many occasions, and so too and number of experts. So, a lot of energy has been put into the process; that momentum needs to be maintained; this isn’t a process that can go on forever. If it drags out for too long, it will drag out into failure.”
4. Close up, reporter’s pad
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Alexander Downer, UN Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus:
“It’s not good enough to say – for somebody to say, regardless of who they are – for somebody to say, ‘oh, I support a solution to the Cyprus problem, but it’s got to be a winner take all, I am not prepared to compromise with anyone else. That is simply not acceptable, and you will never have a solution with that sort of attitude. People have to accept that there needs to be compromise, and compromise all around. On both sides there has to be compromise on the issues that are important to them in order to reunify Cyprus.”
6. Wide shot, Ambassador Ilkin walks to the microphone
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Baki Ilkin, Permanent Representative of Turkey to the United Nations:
“We would want to have a solution, a just and lasting solution on the basis of the UN body of work and the existing parameters. Because during the last forty-plus years, so much work has been done that in general lines the parameters are there.”
FILE - UNTV - 16 APRIL 2009, NEW YORK CITY
8. Wide shot, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Cypriot Foreign Affairs Minister Markos Kyprianou photo-op
FILE - NOVEMBER 2006, CYPRUS
9. Various shots, Nicosia
10. Wide shot, crossing point
11. Wide shot, monitoring with binoculars
12. Various shots, patrol
13. Wide shot, helicopter taking off
After closed informal consultations with Security Council members, UN Special Envoy for Cyprus Alexander Downer today (30 April) expressed cautious optimism about talks on Cyprus’ reunification, while not underestimating the difficulties involved.
Downer asserted that the two Cypriot leaders are committed to the process and to a successful negotiation, highlighting the fact that they have met 26 times since talks formally began last year.
The Special Envoy cautioned that “momentum needs to be maintained” as “this isn’t a process that can go on forever”, and added that “if it drags out for too long, it will drag out into failure.”
The current round of negotiations between Cyprus President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat began in September last year with a view to finding a negotiated settlement that will reunite the island nation.
Downer stressed that both sides “have to accept that there needs to be compromise” on a variety of issues “in order to reunify Cyprus”.
Turkish Ambassador Baki Ilkin, addressing the issue for the first time since taking a seat on the Security Council earlier this year, said that his country wants a “just and lasting solution on the basis of the UN body of work and the existing parameters”.
Earlier this month, Cypriot Foreign Minister Markos Kyprianou visited the United Nations in New York and met with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to discuss the process of negotiations.
The UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) has been in place on the island since 1964 after the outbreak of inter-communal violence. It is tasked with preventing a recurrence of fighting, contributing to a return to normal conditions and the maintenance of law and order.
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