AKEL on Erdoğan – Tatar delirium of intransigence and how to address them

 

13 June 2023, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia

The delirium of intolerance by Erdogan and Tatar during the Turkish President’s illegal visit to the occupied territories demonstrated yet again the tragic situation in which the Cyprus problem has found itself in after the collapse of the Crans Montana conference on Cyprus. Returning to the dead-end policies of the past, Turkey and the pseudo-state have gone back to the anachronistic rhetoric about the existence of two peoples, the demand for sovereign equality and equal international status and, as a consequence, for the recognition [of the illegal regime in the occupied areas] as a precondition for the resumption of the negotiation procedure.

It goes without saying that as long as this irrational chorus continues, it is not possible for talks to resume for a solution of the Cyprus problem. For that reason, Erdoğan’s rhetorical proclamations that there is no other way out but peace in the Aegean and the Mediterranean and that Turkey is continuing its sincere efforts for a solution to the Cyprus problem have no practical meaning whatsoever.

Within the framework of this gloomy context, the President of the Republic must seriously reflect on what went wrong and what needs to be done in order to seriously test Turkey. Does the occupying power persist in putting forth its out-of-place and time demands or would it perhaps be willing to return to the tracks of Crans Montana where, by general consent, we were just a breath away from arriving at a strategic agreement on the basis of the Guterres Framework?

To answer this difficult question, the Greek Cypriot side must convince in practice that it itself means what it says when it refers to a continuation of the talks from where the point where they had remained [at Crans Montana]. It must also offer incentives that do not cross and go beyond our “red lines”.

We call on the President of the Republic in good faith to study AKEL’s relevant proposal, which is extremely topical and was submitted to him during the last session of the National Council.