The stagnation on the Cyprus problem is dangerous

 

If there is no movement on the Cyprus problem, the international community may seek other solutions

Sunday 16 June 2024, “Haravgi” newspaper

Time is running out and not in our favour and as time goes by, new fait accompli are being created, the General Secretary of AKEL Stefanos Stefanou pointed out, among other things, speaking at the conference entitled “50 Years After the Coup and the Turkish Invasion – An Intra-Greek Assessment and the Day After”.

In his speech, St. Stephanou made a self-criticism for the mistakes made by the Greek Cypriot side during the period 1963-1974, also referring to the behind-the-scenes understandings agreed between Turkey and Greece. More specifically on the 1974 coup d’état and the Turkish invasion, he said that the coup facilitated Turkey and added that during the invasion the Turkish army invaded Cyprus undisturbed, citing what was written in a book by Cyprus News Agency’s Istanbul correspondent Anna Andreou.

St. Stefanou warned that time is running out and isn’t in our favour and that as time goes by new fait accompli are being created. He stated that we noted the seven years of stagnation on the Cyprus problem and that the international community has become tired.

The General Secretary of AKEL also noted that the Greek Cypriot side does not inspire credibility as it is being assigned the responsibility for the failure of the talks at the Crans Montana conference. He proposed that the negotiations must continue from the point where they were interrupted at Crans Montana, stressing the importance of safeguarding the convergences that were recorded.

S.Stefanou made a specific reference to the Guterres Framework. He argued that initiatives must be taken to overcome the disappointing situation and noted that AKEL had tabled a specific proposal.

Finally, the General Secretary of AKEL warned that if there is no mobility on the Cyprus problem, the deadlock will continue and that the international community may seek other solutions or that third parties will propose ideas, such as the British proposals it sought to introduce in the past.

The conference hosted by the University of Nicosia was a two-day event that brought together academics, researchers and political analysts from Greece and Cyprus.