Two months before the meeting in multi-party meeting under the UN Secretary-General in Geneva, the process has ground to a halt, in spite of the arrival of the UNSG’s personal envoy Maria Angela Holguin. It could be described as a deadlock after Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar informed Holguin, when they met on Monday, that he would not have a meeting with President Christodoulides, against a background of arrests of people selling Greek Cypriot properties in the north, which he labelled as “terrorism.”

After the meeting, Tatar said: “The Greek Cypriot leadership’s terrorising steps are destroying the grounds for talks.” The “insincerity, regarding the property issue, deeply upset us and could not be tolerated,” he said. “Unless it is corrected it will not be possible to discuss the other issues healthily.” Christodoulides was in defiant mood on Tuesday saying he would not give in to Tatar. “Those who commit crimes are prosecuted,” he said and added: “It does not matter what statements Tatar makes or how many statements he makes, or anything like that.”

When both leaders dig in their feet, deadlock is the inevitable result, regardless of who is right and who is wrong and what is worse, each can easily sell his position to his respective voters. Tatar may have some critics in the north for his stand but, we suspect, the majority fully support it as they see this as defending Turkish Cypriot interests, many of whom might be at risk of arrest if they cross to the south. Christodoulides is in a similar, no-lose position by taking a tough line. His tough stance has been applauded by a majority of parties and media, while the few who claimed this would poison the climate were accused by the government of embracing the Turkish positions.

Nobody can deny that the climate has been poisoned and that in this toxic environment not even confidence-building measures will be discussed ahead of July’s meeting in Geneva. If the sides cannot agree on basic confidence building measures, the resumption of the talks, which Christodoulides claims to be his main objective, can never materialise. Tatar is not so keen to return to the negotiating table, anyway, so the stalemate suits his agenda. Despite paying lip service to the resumption of the talks, Christodoulides is not really interested in returning to the negotiations either.

His tough line on property and the stepping up of his uncompromising rhetoric perfectly illustrates this unwillingness. Does the UN not realise that neither leader is remotely interested in a resumption of negotiations and even less so in a settlement? Why is it wasting time and resources on a problem that neither side wants solved? How much longer will this farce be allowed to continue, before the UN finally gives up?