Now is the time for a collective effort to reverse the new fait accompli Turkey is planning
Statement by Aristos Damianou, member of the Political Bureau of AKEL, AKEL Member of Parliament
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 10th October 2020, Nicosia
After the Summit Meeting, what was expected from Turkey was that it would put an end to its illegal and provocative actions in the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Republic of Cyprus. Instead, Turkey and Mr. Tatar are proceeding to new partitionist fait accompli with the opening of the coastal front of the fenced-off area of Varosha. This constitutes a provocative, illegal and reprehensible action, which violates the relevant Resolutions of the United Nations and which is correctly being denounced to the Security Council of the UN, the European Union and other international fora.
The critical nature of the times we are going through does not lend itself to exercising criticism of the Anastasiades-DISY government, despite the fact a great deal could be said about its bad handlings and erroneous assessments in general surrounding the Cyprus problem and in particular on the issue of Famagusta. This is not the time to do so. Now is the time for a collective effort to reverse the new fait accompli being planned by Turkey and Turkish Cypriot leaders supporting partition.
The time has come for our side and Mr. Anastasiades to act with a sense of urgency, as the UN Security Council itself is telling us, according to the three axes of ending and annulling the new fait accompli, the assumption of initiatives that will aim at the de-escalation of the tension and the formulation of the conditions which will enable the resumption of negotiations.
The framework is bi-communal, bi-zonal Federation with political equality, as this has been set out in the relevant resolutions of the UN, with the continuation of the negotiation procedure from the point where it had remained at Crans Montana, on the basis of the Guterres Framework, the joint announcement of February 2014 and the convergences that have been recorded to date. We must work without regressions – despite the difficulties – for a solution within the agreed framework, on the basis of international law and the principles on which the EU is founded.
The deepening and visible danger of the permanent consolidation of the partitionist status quo does not permit neither delays, nor the cultivation of illusions. We need actions that will reverse Turkey’s partitionist plans and serve our own goal for the liberation and reunification of our homeland.
