Foreign policy must be based on the objective understanding of international given conditions far from any illusions

 

Statement by the General Secretary of AKEL Andros Kyprianou on the statements of the Foreign Affairs Minister

AKEL C.C. Press Office, 18 June 2020, Nicosia

In his attempt to reply to our latest statements, the Foreign Minister attributes to AKEL positions that we have never expressed and replies to anything BUT what we had said. At the same time, he implies that AKEL is misleading the people.

Let me make it clear that we are not seeking to get into a confrontation with anyone. However, we will recall certain facts and developments, which should have concerned the government and the Foreign Minister with regards their foreign policy. In the last EU Council of Foreign Ministers, in which US Secretary of State Mr. Pompeo also took part, contrary to what the government was advertising and leaking to the media, not only was there no joint US-EU statement against Turkey’s aggression, but quite the contrary Mr. Pompeo – as Mr. Borrell himself clarified – focused his attention on Libya, instead of Turkey’s aggressive actions against Cyprus and Greece.

This isn’t the first time this has occurred. We are witnessing a recurring scenario on various issues. The government, with the help of some mass media outlets, raise the bar of expectations extremely high as to what we can expect from the international community, either through tripartite co-operations, or cooperation with the US or the EU, in the face of Turkey’s aggression. Unfortunately, these expectations have so far been faltered for our country. However, no one from the government is even bothering to engage in self-criticism, even to offer explanations about the results this policy has yielded. We consider that this tactic does not offer anything to what the Cypriot people are worried about: halting Turkey’s aggression, bringing security and stability to the region, promoting a solution to the Cyprus problem that will free our country from the Turkish occupation.

AKEL’s position is that our country’s foreign policy must be based on the objective understanding of the international given conditions – far from any illusions and fantasies. The development of Cyprus’ relations with all the states of the region and the world on the basis of international law should be promoted, focusing on the solution of the Cyprus problem, but also of all the other pending issues in the region. This is the only way we can put a stop to Turkey’s aggression.