Former European commissioner Androulla Vassiliou on Friday warned against the continued publishing of speculation regarding the contents of ongoing talks aimed at resuming negotiations in earnest on the Cyprus problem.

“I consider it a big mistake to start publishing speculation about possible provisions of a new plan for a solution to the Cyprus problem. This, I believe, will adversely affect the entire process,” she said.

Reports regarding the alleged content of a package solution deal surfaced last weekend, with related reports appearing elsewhere in the media in both Cyprus and Turkey in recent days, prompting a terse reaction from Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman on Thursday.

“A debate which has been going on for days, based on an article written by a Greek Cypriot journalist, is being accepted as completely true. There are those who wonder who ‘leaked’ it, how much of it was ‘leaked’ correctly, and whether baseless messages were inserted during the ‘leak’ which would specifically provoke Turkish Cypriots,” he said.

He went on to say that “if he aim is to provoke the Turkish Cypriot side with baseless claims, and to let us derail the process, and then send a message to the world that it is actually the Turkish Cypriots who do not want a solution, we will not fall for these games”.

Later, he added that he is “not at all bothered by the discussions” but “following them carefully”, and that his office “has enough intelligence, experience and knowledge to understand who is trying to do what, who is trying to contribute in good faith and who has other agendas”.

The initial reports had suggested that United Nations envoy Maria Angela Holguin has presented a “looser” solution to the Cyprus problem to the involved parties.

That solution, the reports said, would entail two constituent states in a structure wherein the island’s central government “would retain only absolutely necessary competences so that the new state can function internationally, within the European Union, and institutionally”.

Additionally, it suggested that such a solution would be implemented over the course of a “transitional phase” of two or three years, with territory being ceded by the Turkish Cypriots during that period, in return for the Turkish Cypriot side being allowed direct trade, direct contact and direct flights to Ercan (Tymbou) airport.

Deputy government spokesman Yiannis Antoniou was asked about the matter by the Cyprus Mail on Wednesday and refused to be drawn, saying that the content of any given solution is not currently a matter for discussion.

Likewise, Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said that the reports “should not receive special comment” as “they are not of particular importance”.

“What matters is what [Holguin] and [UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres] will conclude as to how they should proceed. Everyone may have ideas, opinions, approaches, various formulae in mind. It does not mean that it constitutes common ground in terms of convergence or an agreement encompassing all those involved,” he said.