The aim should be the resumption of the talks
Statements by the AKEL General Secretary on the Anastasiades-Akinci dinner
13th April 2018, DIALOGOS website
AKEL does not anticipate any negotiation to take place DURING Monday’s dinner, but expects that the preconditions for restarting talks will be created, the General Secretary of AKEL stressed.
Speaking to “Astra” radio station Andros Kyprianou said that if there aren’t any results from the dinner then the dinner’s purpose won’t be achieved.
As far as the Turkish provocation is concerned, the General Secretary of AKEL said it has intensified lately, harboring many dangers, and he pointed out that only through negotiations will Turkey be forced to behave differently.
With the resumption of negotiations, Andros Kyprianou added, the dangers that are looming from Turkey will be minimized.
He also underlined that the developments in the Turkish Cypriot community are such that if we do not manage to address them through talks, they will lead to a discussion for a solution beyond federation.
If Turkey, he went on to say, does not agree to the resumption of talks, it itself will bear the responsibility.
The Greek Cypriot side’s goal, he pointed out, must be to avoid ending up with the final collapse of the talks.
Referring to the intermediate political spectrum’s objections to the dinner, but also to the fact that the talks should start from where they had remained and on the basis of the framework submitted by the UN Secretary-General, the General Secretary of AKEL pointed out that the framework is quite clear and added that it is naive for certain forces and circles to believe that by setting preconditions the UN will resume the negotiations.
AKEL General Secretary issues an appeal to the two leaders
AKEL’s General Secretary Andros Kyprianou reiterated the position that Turkey must put an end to its provocations for the talks to resume and that the resumption of negotiations must be based on what happened in Crans Montana and in the direction the UN Secretary-General pointed to in his report and “without footnotes”. Asked whether by “footnotes” he means the demand for the termination of the Turkish provocative actions, the AKEL General Secretary replied that this demand is a prerequisite for resuming the dialogue. “Footnotes”, he explained, are the separation that the President makes for a discussion of the internal aspects of the Cyprus problem and the preparation on the international aspects. “In our view,” said A. Kyprianou, “this approach deviates from the framework set by the UN Secretary-General”. The AKEL General Secretary issued an appeal to the two leaders to go to the dinner with the common will to resume the talks and expressed the wish that this dinner represent the starting point for the talks to begin.
