AKEL General Secretary meets the Belgian Ambassador
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 10th March 2017, Nicosia
It is with particular joy that I received the Belgian Ambassador to Cyprus at the offices of the C.C. of AKEL. He is one of the diplomats who shows a great interest on the Cyprus problem I must say and we have frequent contacts, even though he is stationed in Athens. During our meeting I had the opportunity to brief him on the situation which has evolved surrounding the negotiations on the Cyprus problem following Mr. Akinci’s decision not to go the dialogue, as well as about the efforts we have been making as a Party to breach this deadlock.
I will not tire of repeating that everyone’s attention must be focused on how the preconditions for the resumption of the negotiations are formed. AKEL will continue this effort because we believe it is extremely important to continue the negotiations, and if and provided that they resume of course, we will try to contribute so that substantive negotiations will take place in order, if possible, to reach an agreement as soon as possible.
I want to thank our friend the Ambassador of Belgium for the discussion we had and assure him that as AKEL we are focused on the effort to solve the Cyprus problem.
Presidential elections
With regards the interview you gave to MEGA TV in which you stated that AKEL won’t be pressured by anyone. Have you officially began a discussion on the elections or are you following developments from a distance?
AK: Let me say that we have had a discussion and have agreed that we must await the developments on the Cyprus problem and then begin the discussion on the Presidential Elections. The dialogue, I would say is due to begin after the Easter holidays and a process over several weeks needs to be completed in the sense that we shall address the party base membership to hear their views before we take our final decisions.
As regards the specific interview I would like to say the following. If some circles and forces believe that AKEL will be excluded from any dialogue and that they will manage by behaving as they do to pass into the second round, which I say will be impossible for them to pass into the second round, and to hope to drag AKEL to support them, then they are fooling themselves. I want to make this very clear.
I would imagine you are referring to the intermediate centre political spectrum?
AK: I am referring to anyone thinking in this way. They are gravely mistaken if they take AKEL for granted in a possible second round of the presidential elections. I want to make this absolutely clear as of now, that whatever force respects AKEL, AKEL will respect it too. AKEL will only respect forces that respect it.
If they don’t show respect towards AKEL, AKEL won’t respect them neither.
Won’t you become a tail of events because of your delaying?
AKEL won’t become a tail of anyone. For us, the Cyprus problem takes precedence over and above all else. Certain circles and forces in my opinion are in a hurry and I do not consider that the pre-election campaign is a question of quantity, but of substance.
Is your own candidacy on the table?
AK: We haven’t even began talking about the issue. Why must there be certain candidacies on the table? I should tell you that I am astonished at what I see written in the press. Given that as AKEL we aren’t discussing anything of the sort why are these things being written? I must also say that what is happening is startling…
