Facing Turkey’s provocative actions
Article by Stefanos Stefanou, AKEL C.C. Spokesperson, AKEL MP
Sunday 2nd August 2020, “Haravgi” newspaper
When AKEL was repeating with a sense of urgency that without a solution of the Cyprus problem, Turkey would provoke and threaten, the government ruling forces and others were more concerned about other things. The government, instead of worrying about the stalemate surrounding the negotiations and Turkey being relived of any responsibilities, instead of thinking about how it can effectively confront the occupying power’s illegal actions in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Republic of Cyprus and taking initiatives to create preconditions for dealing with the problems, throughout this whole period it has devoted its energies to engaging in actions and issuing statements with the goal of winning impressions on the domestic front.
There were two main axes of the government’s policy, which received the corresponding promotion and advertisement by the overwhelming majority of mass media.
The first is the holding of trilateral and quadripartite meetings with neighboring countries. Such meetings are fine, since the development of relations and cooperation with neighboring countries must be pursued. The government, however, attaches too much importance to them, which they don’t and cannot have. The soundbites of the government ruling forces that these meetings “fortify Cyprus”, that “they render Cyprus the major player of the region” and that “Cyprus is becoming the region’s most important energy player” are characteristic. All these soundbites in practice were refuted as soon as Turkey began its illegal exploration and drilling in Cyprus’ sea area.
The second pillar of the government’s policy is the pursuit of the imposition of sanctions by the EU against Turkey for its illegal actions against Cyprus. The government and DISY even today are declaring that “sanctions will hurt” and that “sanctions will cost Turkey”. But even this narrative has not convinced either. The EU is reluctant to impose substantial sanctions on Turkey and the vast majority of EU member states have not responded to this demand.
The government’s policy, apart from the fact that it has proved to be ineffective, did not change the international community’s assessment that the President of the Republic does not have the necessary political will to promote a solution to the Cyprus problem. This fact leaves room for Turkey to promote the pretexts and excuses it uses to carry out its illegal actions. Turkey invokes the rights of the Turkish Cypriots on the natural gas issue and, at the same time, it asserts a large part of the EEZ of the Republic of Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean. The UN, the EU and all the important states that from time to time and to various degrees have taken a stand on Turkey’s actions point out that the problems can be effectively addressed with the solution of the Cyprus problem. In fact, the UN Secretary-General in the reports he has submitted underlines the importance of the convergences that have been recorded between the two sides (namely the Christofias-Talat convergences) on the issue of natural gas, the fair sharing of the relevant revenues and on the issue of maritime zones.
Instead of the government moving decisively in the direction which the international community has pointed out, it has remained trapped in the policy of sanctions. Sanctions are fine, of course, but they cannot be an end in themselves. Sanctions must be an instrument for the promotion of our central goal, which cannot be anything other than the solution of the Cyprus problem itself.
Can there be a solution of the Cyprus problem in this situation which has been caused by Turkey’s provocative actions? The answer is simple: if we do not try, how can we know the answer? Indeed, all this at a time when the UN Security Council (UNSC) in its last Resolution once again reiterates its position for the resumption of negotiations from the point where they had remained at Crans Montana on the basis of the Guterres Framework and the utilisation of the convergences recorded. The UNSC also stresses that it expects the leaders of the two communities to start working also within their communities for the solution of the Cyprus problem and the reunification of our common homeland.
The question is: will the government finally coordinate its efforts with the will of the UNSC or will it continue on the path of cultivating illusions, allowing Turkey to play a game and push the solution further and further away?
The government must realize that the situation has reached a critical point.
Time is running out and the partition is being consolidating day by day.
