Moment of truth for Cyprus

Today marks the fifth death anniversary of Rauf Denktaş, the founding president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Today may also be a new start for Turkish and Greek Cypriots. Thursday was a very important day for all Cypriots, irrespective of ethnical divides, and all those who are still bothered with the prospect of peace in the eastern Mediterranean island. For the first time ever since the 1960 creation of the Republic of Cyprus, the two communities and the three guarantor powers; Turkey, Greece and Britain, came together.

What was the result of the meeting? Did not you hear? The multinational, international or five-party conference is still underway, but because Hürriyet Daily News is printed early, this article had to be penned down earlier than the result. Yet was it not clear enough from such statements like "Geneva will not be the last stop" or the "no one should expect date of a referendum on a Cyprus deal to come out of this meeting" said by U.N. Envoy Espen Barth Eide? The expectation that the Geneva round of talks might bring about a settlement was brushed aside long-ago. Why was there a meeting then? Was it not obvious that there was no sufficient progress for a landmark deal?

Obviously, these and many other questions might be asked and very pessimistic or optimistic remarks might be made. The clear fact is that for the first time ever representatives of the three guarantor states and the two communities of the island came together. Did they come to finish off the Cyprus problem with a single magical touch or will this be the start of yet another inconclusive process, which is very much similar to the previous almost-half-a-century-old intercommunal talks. 

There is no need for pessimism. Personally, I would not...