Joint Declaration
The two leaders had their
first meeting today under the auspices of the UN Secretary General's
Good Offices mission. The meeting was held in a friendly and cordial
atmosphere and the two leaders have agreed to the following:
1. The status quo is
unacceptable and its prolongation will have negative consequences for
the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. The leaders affirmed that a
settlement would have a positive impact on the entire region, while
first and foremost benefiting Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots,
respecting democratic principles, human rights and fundamental
freedoms, as well as each other's distinct identity and integrity and
ensuring their common future in a united Cyprus within the European
Union.
2.
The leaders expressed their determination to resume structured
negotiations in a results-oriented manner. All unresolved core issues
will be on the table, and will be discussed interdependently. The
leaders will aim to reach a settlement as soon as possible, and hold
separate simultaneous referenda thereafter.
3.
The settlement will be based on a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation
with political equality, as set out in the relevant Security Council
Resolutions and the High Level Agreements. The united Cyprus, as a
member of the United Nations and of the European Union, shall have a
single international legal personality and a single sovereignty,
which is defined as the sovereignty which is enjoyed by all member
States of the United Nations under the UN Charter and which emanates
equally from Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. There will be a
single united Cyprus citizenship, regulated by federal law. All
citizens of the united Cyprus shall also be citizens of either the
Greek-Cypriot constituent state or the Turkish-Cypriot constituent
state. This status shall be internal and shall complement, and not
substitute in any way, the united Cyprus citizenship.
The
powers of the federal government, and like matters that are clearly
incidental to its specified powers, will be assigned by the
constitution. The Federal constitution will also provide for the
residual powers to be exercised by the constituent states.
The constituent states will exercise fully and irrevocably all their
powers, free from encroachment by the federal government. The federal
laws will not encroach upon constituent state laws, within the
constituent states’ area of competences, and the constituent
states’ laws will not encroach upon the federal laws within the
federal government’s competences. Any dispute in respect thereof
will be adjudicated finally by the Federal Supreme Court. Neither
side may claim authority or jurisdiction over the other.
4.
The
united Cyprus federation shall result from the settlement following
the settlement’s approval by separate simultaneous referenda. The
Federal constitution shall prescribe that the united Cyprus
federation shall be composed of two constituent states of equal
status. The bi-zonal, bi-communal nature of the federation and the
principles upon which the EU is founded will be safeguarded and
respected throughout the island. The Federal constitution shall be
the supreme law of the land and will be binding on all the
federation's authorities and on the constituent states. Union in
whole or in part with any other country or any form of partition or
secession or any other unilateral change to the state of affairs will
be prohibited.
5. The negotiations are
based on the principle that nothing is agreed until everything is
agreed.
6. The appointed
representatives are fully empowered to discuss any issue at any time
and should enjoy parallel access to all stakeholders and interested
parties in the process, as needed. The leaders of the two communities
will meet as often as needed. They retain the ultimate decision
making power. Only an agreement freely reached by the leaders may be
put to separate simultaneous referenda. Any kind of arbitration is
excluded.
7. The sides will seek to
create a positive atmosphere to ensure the talks succeed. They commit
to avoiding blame games or other negative public comments on the
negotiations. They also commit to efforts to implement confidence
building measures that will provide a dynamic impetus to the prospect
for a united Cyprus.
