Toumazos Tsielepis: Expressing readiness for a resumption of negotiations isn’t enough
Sunday 13 September 2020 HARAVGI newspaper
The policies supporting a Bizonal, Bi-communal solution are confronting those arguing for a two states solution in the Turkish Cypriot community
Statements by Toumazos Tsielepis, AKEL Political Bureau member and Head of AKEL Cyprus Problem Bureau
The day after the “elections” (in the occupied areas), says Toumazos Tsielepis, will be particularly important, as whoever prevails, but also Turkey itself, will probably not want to be held responsible for a possible rejection of the expected invitation on the part of the United Nations for a resumption of the negotiation procedure.
“Of course, if one of the candidates who reject the federal solution were to prevail, any negotiation procedure will not have positive prospects. However, it isnt enough for one of the candidates seeking a bi-communal, bi-zonal federal solution to prevail. Our own side must change course. The President of the Republic must radically reconsider his stance after Crans Montana. It is not enough for him to express a readiness for a resumption of negotiations from where they had remained, but he must mean and be actually seeking it. It isn’t convincing, on the one hand, for the President of the Republic to talk about continuing where we had left off at Crans Montana and, on the other hand, for him to be promoting “new ideas” that are undoing the existing convergences that have been recorded, indeed to the point of the government ruling forces creating the impression that Mr. Anastasiades rejects political equality. It goes without saying, of course, that negotiations cannot take place amid intolerable provocative actions on the part of Turkey.”
The role of the international community
Referring to the role played by the international community on the developments surrounding the Cyprus problem, T. Tsielepis stressed that it is the United Nations itself that have the first say, which via the UN Secretary General are declaring that they will continue the efforts to solve the Cyprus problem. He added that a lot will depend on the attitude of the European Union and the permanent members of the UN Security Council. “Consequently, if we are sincerely adamant that we must continue from where we had remained at Crans Montana, this will only yield benefits for us, because whether one agrees or not with the Reports submitted by the UN Secretary General’s, which apportion responsibilities on both leaders and not on Turkey, that is the picture formed and the pressing need is to change this impression in the immediate future.”
T.Tsielepis noted that the UN would not continue to support the efforts in a general and vague way, given that it has set specific preconditions, such as the alignment with the Guterres Framework and existing convergences.
