With his stand Mr. Anastasiades is helping Turkish intransigence

Extracts from the speech by the General Secretary of AKEL A.Kyprianou at the presentation of the candidates for the European elections in Paphos

AKEL C.C. Press Office, 8 February 2019

Time is running out. Either Mr. Anastasiades doesn’t realize it or his is indifferent. What initiative has he really taken since the collapse (of the talks) at Crans Montana? He hasn’t taken any initiative whatsoever.

However, we heard from Deputy Government Spokesman Victor Papadopoulos yesterday something extraordinary. Mr. Papadopoulos said that “our demand is that before the UN Secretary General envoy on Cyprus Mrs. Lute proceeds, the Turkish side should table its positions on the Secretary General’s six chapters or to state its stand on the positions we have tabled”. That is to say, they want negotiations to take place before these have even began! Unfortunately, Mr. Anastasiades is confirming our assessments on a daily basis. He doesn’t have a vision for a reunited Cyprus.

On the contrary, with his attitude, he is helping Turkish intransigence. Pessimism is being spread among the people that the Cyprus problem cannot be solved. Worst of all, the ground is created for other ideas to be put on the table, even ideas calling for the partition of Cyprus. We will not tire saying that partition was the goal of those who ordered the crime committed against Cyprus. Partition was the vision of Rauf Denktash. We will never accept it.

Mr. Anastasiades recently referred to his proposal for decentralized federation. We are still waiting to hear from him what responsibilities he wants to transfer from the central state to the constituent entities. We have been waiting since 2012 to hear what he has to say about it.

They cannot fool all the people forever. They ought to realise that. We have been waiting for a week for them to tell us what actions they have taken in relation to the Turkish provocations in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). They were telling us time and time again that they have shielded the EEZ with their policy and the alliances they have forged. Unfortunately it is being proved that the Cypriot EEZ is unprotected. The Turkish seismic vessel “Barbaros” is roaming freely in the licensed plots without anyone in the international community reacting. The government and ruling forces say they are taking action, but can’t make them public because they will be annulled. Everything is judged by the end result, by the results of their actions.