AKEL Memorandum to the United Nations

 

14 August 2022, Deryneia checkpoint

Today, on the anniversary of the second phase of the Turkish invasion, a delegation of the Party, headed by the General Secretary of the Central Committee, Stefanos Stefanou, went to the Deryneia checkpoint and delivered the following Memorandum to the representatives of the United Nations:

“1. We denounce the continued occupation and division of our country imposed with force of arms by Turkey in July and August 1974, taking the baton from the fascist coup d’état of the Greek Junta and EOKA B against President Makarios.

2. We deplore the fact that Turkey has so far failed to implement Resolutions 550 and 789 of the UN Security Council on Famagusta, which provide for the return of the lawful inhabitants under the provisional administration of the UN before the comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem.
3. We condemn the actions of the occupying power and the occupying authorities for the partial opening the fenced-off city of Famagusta, which is aimed at illegal colonalisation of the fenced-off area and/or the return of the lawful inhabitants of the area under military occupation. We also condemn the escalation of Turkey’s illegal demands and actions in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Republic of Cyprus.
4. We note with concern the fact that a large section of the international community continues to not only tolerate the attitude and actions of the occupying power in Cyprus, but also continues to geopolitically upgrade Turkey, following a blatantly unacceptable practice of double standards.
5. We reiterate in every direction that the divisive and occupational status quo is unacceptable and is constantly sliding into a new dangerous phase for Cyprus and its people. Only the liberation and reunification of Cyprus, through a solution on the agreed basis and framework, can guarantee a future of peace for all Cypriots and contribute decisively to security and cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean.
6. We call on Turkey to end and reverse all its actions in the enclosed city of Famagusta and to comply with the relevant Resolutions of the UN. We further call for an end to the aggressive actions and rhetoric of the Turkish government in relation to the EEZ of the Republic of Cyprus and for the Turkish government to comply with international law and the law of the sea. We call on Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot leadership to abandon the policy of partition and to cooperate for a solution to the Cyprus problem that will reunite the island on the basis of the parameters of the UN.
7. We stress that our goal is a solution on the agreed basis, which will provide for the speedy withdrawal of all occupying forces, the immediate abrogation of the Treaty of Guarantees and any unilateral right of intervention, an end to the illegal colonalisation, the reunification of our territory and people, and the restoration and protection of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Cypriots.
8. We adhere to the agreed basis for a solution of a bicommunal, bizonal federation with political equality, as this is set out in the relevant resolutions of the United Nations, which provides for a single state, with a single sovereignty, a single international personality and a single nationality. We reject any attempt to overturn the basis of the solution of the Cyprus problem which is being promoted by the Erdogan government and the Turkish Cypriot Tatar leadership. AKEL will never consent to the permanent partition of Cyprus either through a “two-state solution” or through solutions of confederation and “sovereign equality”.
9. We firmly believe that it is urgent that all the involved parties should commit themselves to the resumption of negotiations from the point where they were suspended at Crans-Montana in 2017, on the basis of the Guterres Framework, the mechanism for the implementation of a solution, which abolishes the Treaty of Guarantees and any intervention rights and the convergences that had been achieved up to the end of the Conference on Cyprus.
10. We call on the UN and the international community as a whole to exert all their influence to reverse the current situation and the dangerous course on the Cyprus problem and for the resumption of the peace process on the rails of the agreed framework of the solution.”