Our View: President resorting to the old Cyprus problem tactic – blame the UN

In the interview he gave to the CyBC on Monday night, President Anastasiades accused the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres of being “a deft neutral” over the Cyprus issue. This was not a compliment but an unflattering description of Guterres, implying that his deft neutrality was benefiting Turkey.

Justifying his comment, the president said that Guterres did not respect or implement the resolutions of the UN, on the basis of which he should exercise his Good Offices mission for Cyprus. Anastasiades was unhappy because the UNSG had still not issued a statement about the meeting in New York with him and Ersin Tatar at the start of the previous week.

Perhaps he felt embarrassed because after the meeting, he had said Guterres would issue an announcement the following day, something that has still not happened, 10 days later. He may have also been frustrated by Guterres’ failure to appoint an envoy for Cyprus to replace Jane Holl Lute who stepped down last month, after two years marked by abject failure.

Then again, why would the UNSG waste resources appointing an envoy when the two sides have unbridgeable differences, which the departed envoy was unable to resolve after two years of efforts? What would be the point of appointing an envoy, given that the gulf separating the two sides remains, a gulf Guterres was able to see for himself at the New York meeting?

Anastasiades is aware of this, but he is now resorting to the old Cyprus problem tactic of blaming the UN for every deadlock, a key feature of government diplomacy since the late 70s. Since then the UN was routinely attacked for allegedly being pro-Turkish and failing to implement its resolutions on Cyprus, while envoys of the UNSG were often targets of character assassinations by the media. The government would also demand their replacement.

We are witnessing the same show being staged by Anastasiades, who has been a deft practitioner of the tactic for years. He publicly accused the former Secretary-General’s Special Representative, Espen Barth Eide, of being a liar and of showing pro-Turkish bias; he also demanded the removal of Eide’s predecessor Alexander Downer. Now he has decided to target Guterres for not appointing a special envoy for the government to attack.

This crude practice of always blaming foreigners for what is happening in the Cyprus problem – whether it’s movement or stalemate – is as old as the problem itself. People always buy it while the president avoids taking any responsibility for what is happening, even if he has a share of the blame. This is the game Anastasiades is playing with his shabby criticism of Guterres. He is making it clear that he takes no responsibility that the partition of the island has been cemented.