AKEL on government plans to submit coordinates for the determination of an Exclusive Economic Zone
Statement by Stefanos Stefanou, AKEL C.C. Spokesperson
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 22nd October 2017, Nicosia
The government plans to submit coordinates for the determination of an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) doesn’t mean an agreement has been reached on the EEZ. It is a submission of what you are asserting. You need a delimitation agreement to attain it. This is what the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea provides for. In this specific case, to demarcate the EEZ north of the Republic of Cyprus, a relevant agreement with Turkey is needed.
The submission of coordinates is not a negative action per se. However, the timing of this action, about which the political ramifications must be calculated, is important. Mr. Anastasiades, instead of focusing on the efforts to resume the negotiations, as the UN Secretary-General calls for, is trying to approach Mr. Papadopoulos’ dangerous positions, sending out erroneous messages to the international community concerning his real intentions.
Citizens understand that the raising of this issue by the Cyprus government three months before the Presidential election is an action that simply aims to create impressions and cultivate illusions.
It is quite clear that Turkey will not enter even into a dialogue with the Republic of Cyprus which it does not recognize. The settlement of this important issue can only be achieved through the solution of the Cyprus problem.
The government’s pre-election campaign cannot be a vindication of N. Papadopoulos’ unrealistic position arguing for an agreement with Turkey on the EEZ before the implementation of the solution of the Cyprus problem. This position of N. Papadopoulos leads to the perpetuation of the occupation, which damages and doesn’t safeguard the sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus.
We note that Greece and Turkey, which recognize each other as states, have been discussing for four decades now and haven’t managed to agree on the demarcation of an EEZ.
