AKEL on the President’s statements on Crans Montana
21 November 2021, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia
How everyone on the domestic front interprets the UN memos on the meetings at the Crans Montana conference is of little importance. The crucial importance lies in how the UN and the Secretary General of the UN himself assess the stand of the parties involved at Crans Montana.
In his Report submitted after the collapse of Crans Montana, Mr. Guterres holds the President of the Republic jointly responsible for missing a historic opportunity for a solution of the Cyprus problem, whilst at the same time, praising the guarantor powers, including Turkey, for their stand. In any case, even the notes that are being leaked even today do not confirm the President’s own narrative/version of events regarding the discussion for the termination of the guarantees and intervention rights. Quite the opposite is true!
When the Secretary General of the UN holds Anastasiades jointly responsible for the failure of Crans Montana, an assessment behind which the international community falls in line with, then everyone can understand why the Greek Cypriot side has a problem of credibility and persuasiveness among the international community, as the Chief negotiator of the Greek Cypriot side Andreas Mavroyiannis has concluded.
Therefore, instead of N. Anastasiades seeking vindication by engaging in monologues on the domestic front, he must at long last give an answer to the following questions:
- Why is the Secretary General of the UN blaming the failure at Crans Montana on the leaders of the two communities and not on Turkey?
- Why did the President do nothing to change the narrative of the UN on Crans Montana either then or subsequently?
- Why is the Greek Cypriot side not convincing the international community and lacking credibility, indeed at the same time as Turkey is engaging in provocative and illegal actions against the Republic of Cyprus and violating international law and the relevant Resolutions of the UN?
