AKEL General Secretary: What we are experiencing is a sample of what will follow with the Cyprus problem unresolved
“ASTRA” radio station, 22nd February 2018
There was a gulf in the views expressed yesterday at the meeting of the Council of Political Leaders, said the General Secretary of AKEL A.Kyprianou. It seems, he noted, that we haven’t drawn any lessons from the past. He stressed that with the Cyprus problem unresolved the natural gas issue won’t be solved. At the same time he also pointed out that what we are experiencing today is a small sample of what will subsequently follow if the Cyprus problem remains unresolved. This, he stressed, doesn’t mean that we should accept any solution.
Called upon to comment that President Anastasiades has sent a letter to the UN Secretary-General for a resumption of the negotiations, Andros Kyprianou underlined that if Nicos Anastasiades continues to pursue the same policy he followed at Crans Montana, the talks will not resume. The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, he noted, has made this quite clear.
He also warned that if the President of the Republic at the EU informal summit makes the moves he intends to do, Cyprus will be exposed irreparably.
The General Secretary of AKEL strongly criticized the government’s statements, especially during the pre-election period, that it has formed a shield of protection around the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Republic of Cyprus with the partnerships it has forged and that Cyprus is a strategic partner with the US and other similar statements.
Today, he said, unfortunately all of these myths have collapsed like a house of cards. The myth about a “new strategy” on the Cyprus problem has also collapsed, A. Kyprianou added. The General Secretary of AKEL stressed that you don’t make policies with slogans.
Andros Kyprianou pointed out that Turkey’s stand is unacceptably provocative and its goals are becoming accepted. Commenting on the statements from the occupied areas, Mr. Kyprianou underlined that it is the Republic of Cyprus that decides on these issues.
He also noted that the issue of natural resources and the management of the economic revenues (from the utilization of natural gas) has been solved by the Christofias-Talat convergence. We must, all of us, focus on trying to bring about a solution to the Cyprus problem, the General Secretary of AKEL underlined.
