Interview with Eleni Mavrou, AKEL Political Bureau member – “The President citing the letter he gave to the UN in 2017 is, to say the least, cunning”

 

3 January 2021, ‘Haravgi’ newspaper

The references of Turkish Foreign Minister Cavousoglou and others were followed by those of the Archbishop who stated that the President spoke to him about a two state solution. Did they all not understand what the President was telling them?

EM: The Archbishop’s revelations on the one hand refute all the “denials” that were every now and then being made by the President on this issue, but for AKEL it wasn’t a surprise. We have been afraid of this since the President shared his “vision” for a two state solution for Cyprus with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Cavousoglou, foreign diplomats, and with politicians both in Cyprus and abroad. We reinforced this concern when observing the President’s stance at Crans Montana and what subsequently followed.

The government even had the audacity and was accusing anyone who had the courage to express these concerns in public. As AKEL, we have frequently been accused of being “Turkey’s mouthpiece”.

Now, the denials issued by the President do not convince anyone. The truth is that Nikos Anastasiades is the first and only President of Cyprus who dared not only discuss, but also propose the partition of our country through a two state solution to the Cyprus problem. Acting behind the people’s backs, N.Anastasiades flirted with the idea of ​​handing over 37% of our homeland to Turkey permanently and irrevocably.

Does the letter the President handed to the UN in 2017 convince that President Anastasiades is genuinely seeking a bi-zonal, bi-communal federal solution?

EM: The President’s citing of the letter he gave to the UN in 2017 is, to say the least, cunning.

First of all, the President’s letter does not mention the solution of bi-zonal, bi-communal federation anywhere. Besides, after the collapse of the Crans Montana conference, the President even found it difficult to utter the phrase “bi-zonal, bi-communal federation”. However, at a time when Ersin Tatar and Ankara are clearly talking about a two-state solution challenging the solution of federation, the President must very clearly shield the framework of the solution.

The President’s letter also highlights the President’s inconsistency. Even though he says “we should continue from where we had remained at Crans Montana”, at the same time he raises doubts about his intentions by setting preconditions and overturning convergences that have been agreed on political equality, federal competences and others. And all this at a time when the President wants to convince that his effort is to continue the dialogue on the basis of the framework of the solution and bi-zonal, bi-communal federation

What must the President do to convince that he means what he says about seeking a solution of bi-zonal, bi-communal federation, given the fact that since 2017 he has mentioned this term very rarely?

EM: The President’s handlings have caused enormous damage to the efforts for a solution of the Cyprus problem. Where such a possibility was considered unfeasible, it has now begun to be widely discussed and the danger is that it is gradually beginning to be accepted.

AKEL submitted a comprehensive proposal to President Anastasiades on how he should act, even belatedly, in order to have some hope that the damage will not become irreparable.

What is at stake is how developments on the Cyprus problem will be handled in the coming months. Regressions and mincing one’s words do not help the situation. And unfortunately, it is obvious that the President of the Republic has a credibility problem.

He will have to take initiatives to corner Turkey and if the latter cooperates, we should reach an agreement for a solution to the Cyprus problem. He must quite clearly accept the call (of the UN Secretary General) for the resumption of negotiations, on the basis of the UN Secretary-General’s Framework of 31st June 2017, and declare his readiness to cooperate with the aim of reaching an agreement. He must also accept political equality as described, of course, in texts of the United Nations. Furthermore, he must make moves on the issue of natural gas.

In AKEL’s view, the President does not have many options. He will either work towards the solution of the Cyprus problem, or he will go down the in black pages of History as the leader of the partition of our