The President of the Republic should make use of Mrs. Lute’s visit

Statement by Aristos Damianou, member of the Political Bureau of AKEL on the Cyprus problem

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

The forthcoming visit by the UN Secretary-General’s special envoy on Cyprus Mrs. Lute is of decisive importance. It aims to hear in a specific way what the leaders of the two communities mean by the terms “new ideas” and “new approaches”. And of course in a corresponding way, to hear the positions of the guarantor powers.

As AKEL, through its General Secretary Andros Kyprianou, we have conveyed to the Under-Secretary General of the UN for Political Affairs, Rosemary A. DiCarlo our readiness to support the resumption of the talks, provided that they are based on the agreed framework. Andros Kyprianou clarified that “we are ready to hear any new ideas, provided that they are in line with the agreed framework and will not under any circumstances whatsoever lead to a solution of either two states or to confederation”.

We call on the President of the Republic to make use of Mrs. Lute’s return to Cyprus and to ensure that the message of our readiness is transmitted for a resumption of the talks on the agreed basis without setting preconditions, footnotes and asterisks. And if the President has “new ideas”, which we do not know about, then they must be helpful towards the procedure without distancing us from the goal of liberation and reunification.

We do not underestimate the difficulty in reaching an agreement on the so-called “terms of reference”. However, the UN Secretary-General Mr. Guterres, through the procedure his is proposing, expects the adoption of the acquis of the talks and the continuation of the procedure, without referring – as certain circles and forces may want to interpret – to processes outside the framework and the agreed basis of the solution.