The President is provoking problems instead of creating the preconditions for a resumption of talks

Statement by AKEL C.C. Spokesperson Stefanos Stefanou on the Cyprus issue

AKEL C.C. Press Office, 8 November 2018, Nicosia

The President of the Republic’s press conference instead of clearing the landscape has made it blurred. He has provoked new discussions and raised more questions with regards the President’s intentions and policy on the Cyprus problem. He has also sparked the public negotiation on the Cyprus problem that has never helped the efforts to solve the problem.

In this misguided and damaging situation that has been created primarily under the responsibility of the President of the Republic, the fundamental goal and what is at stake in the critical period we going through mustn’t be lost. The great challenge is that we should channel our efforts towards the resumption of the negotiations from the point where they had remained at Crans Montana and on the basis of the UN Secretary-General’s Framework.

The President of the Republic has many times stated and he reiterated it, albeit in a contradictory way, in his press conference the day before yesterday that he is seeking a resumption of the negotiations. He also said that it would be insane if he didn’t adopt the Secretary General’s Framework. However the way he acts the President is leading things in the opposite direction, provoking problems instead of creating the preconditions for a resumption of the talks so that the effort to achieve a solution that liberates and reunites our country and people is completed. This is the goal and AKEL will continue to work towards realizing this goal.