Statements by the General Secretary of the Central Committee of AKEL Stefanos Stefanou after the event in memory and honor for the missing person Minas Konstantinou

Statements by the General Secretary of the Central Committee of AKEL Stefanos Stefanou after the event in memory and honor for the missing person Minas Konstantinou

9 July 2023, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia

Asked by a journalist whether AKEL agrees with the Foreign Minister’s trip to New York and what he expects from this meeting, the General Secretary of AKEL said:

“Of course we agree. It is something we have been saying to the President of the Republic, because the UN and the Secretary General himself act as the factor that pushes things towards a solution to the Cyprus problem and his whole effort is governed by specific UN Resolutions which are very important. That is precisely why we, as the Greek Cypriot side and the Republic of Cyprus in general, must turn to the United Nations and especially to the Secretary General to convey to him our will to continue to work towards a solution. It is important what will be said to the UN Secretary General, who is clearly disappointed with the prospects for a solution to the Cyprus problem and expects reactions and positions from both sides.

It is therefore very important that when the Foreign Minister, Mr Kombos, meets with the UN Secretary General, he conveys the clear position of the Greek Cypriot side that it wants and wishes to continue the negotiations from the point where they were interrupted at Crans Montana, that it safeguards all the convergences that have been recorded over the years of negotiations, convergences which are of the utmost importance, and that the Greek Cypriot side expresses its readiness to negotiate on the basis of the Guterres Framework.

We must convey this in a clear way and not attempt to open up any issues regarding the convergences recorded so far and the Framework, because this will have the opposite effect.

At the same time, initiatives must be taken on the basis of a positive agenda. I know that the President of the Republic is talking about a positive agenda. We must talk about a positive agenda because we must look for those issues that can release incentives and create momentum for the resumption of negotiations.

We believe that we should not be one-dimensionally focused on the EU, which unquestionably has a role to play and which itself is defining its own role both politically and in technocratic terms following the resumption of negotiations under the auspices of the UN. We should put energy developments in the region at the centre of this positive agenda. It is something that is of interest to Turkey and the international community and it is something that we can control directly because it also has to do with Cypriot natural gas. We have made a relevant proposal to the President of the Republic, and we are waiting to see when we will discuss this issue, which we consider to be of great importance.”