The EU’s priority must be the solution of the Cyprus problem based on principles
Statement by AKEL C.C. Press Office Stefanos Stefanou
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 7th July 2020, Nicosia
AKEL supported and still supports the position that the developments underway at a European level on the possible opening of an EU-Turkey dialogue must be utilised by the government – without illusions and with an awareness of the interests that connect Turkey with EU states – to prioritise the promotion of the solution of the Cyprus problem.
Yesterday’s statements by the EU High Representative and the Turkish Foreign Minister, to the extent they concern the Cyprus problem, focused on the issue of the sharing of the revenues from the natural gas between the two communities. However, the real problem is the Cyprus problem, the occupation and division of our homeland. After all, the question of the natural gas revenues has been resolved at the negotiations with the convergence agreed between the two communities, which provides for the fair – and not equal – distribution of revenues, with the solution of the Cyprus problem. AKEL’s longstanding position is that the utilisation of the natural gas must act as an incentive for a solution of the Cyprus problem and not as a disincentive.
AKEL believes that the EU’s priority must be a solution of the Cyprus problem based on principles and the agreed framework so that our homeland is liberated and reunited, something that will help resolve other issues in the Eastern Mediterranean. This, in our view, must be the government’s position and our demand towards the EU. The resumption of talks and their continuation from the point where they had remained can create valid hopes for a speedy solution of the Cyprus problem, which was, is and must be the principal priority for all Cypriots.
