AKEL on the President of the Republic’s speech at the UN General Assembly
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 25th September 2020, Nicosia
Every speech of the President of the Republic before the General Assembly of the UN is of particular importance because in addressing the international community, he sets out his positions on the Cyprus problem. Especially in this case, what is more important is what the international community understands from the messages that Cyprus is conveying, rather than how the speech is received domestically.
Yesterday the President of the Republic correctly and rightly highlighted from the podium of the UN General Assembly Turkey’s escalating aggression in the Eastern Mediterranean, the illegal and provocative actions of the occupying power against Cyprus, but also against all the states of our region. At the same time, the President’s reference to his commitment for a continuation of the talks from where they had remained at Crans Montana is important, as the UN Secretary-General indeed points out.
However, if President Anastasiades declares he is ready to enter into talks respecting the convergences he himself agreed on up to Crans Montana, then why does he denounce issues that are included in the agreed convergences, such as the issue of the one positive vote? If he repeats from the podium of the UN General Assembly his well-known position on what took place at Crans Montana, then why did the President and his government not and still hasn’t reacted to the UN Secretary General’s Report of September 2017 that exonerates the occupying power and apportions the responsibility for the breakdown on both communities?
AKEL’s position is that the President and government must, not simply in words, but in practice, respond convincingly and with consistency to all that the UN Secretary General as well as the UN Security Council calls for with its latest Resolutions, formulating – to the extent it depends on us – the appropriate framework and climate for the resumption of talks, informing citizens about the content of the solution under discussion and the benefits that the termination of the occupation and reunification will have for all Cypriots and our neighborhood in general.
