Forget the pre-election campaign and focus on the Cyprus problem
Interview with Andros Kyprianou, General Secretary of the C.C. OF AKEL
Sunday 6th March 2017, weekly “KATHIMERINI” newspaper
“Forget the pre-election campaign and focus on the Cyprus problem”
“AKEL rejects any candidate who disagrees with bizonal, bicommunal federation”
– What is the goal of the recent contacts you had with Turkish Cypriot and European officials?
AK: These contacts aimed to help the two leaders find ways to overcome the problem and continue the negotiations. If this situation continues, we will heading towards a collapse of the procedure. Throughout this period significant convergences have been recorded, but to proceed we need to find a way to move the negotiations forward. We have our proposals and submitted them to the President of the Republic on how to continue the negotiations.
-How will this be achieved?
AK: Besides the international aspects of the Cyprus problem, important issues on the internal aspect are also pending. We have noted that both leaders leave these issues for the end as a bargaining chip. But we are already at the end. Therefore these issues should be discussed if and provided that negotiations begin and the two leaders should try to arrive at convergences. This can be done if these important issues become a package and the two leaders agree that they will submit proposals on the outstanding issues. If they achieve a convergence it will mean that we are within range of an agreement and we can go unhindered to an international conference on the issues of the international aspect of the Cyprus problem, namely Security and Guarantees. If they don’t come to an agreement, the two leaders can withdraw the proposals they submitted at this stage without being bound.
– Doesn’t the fact that you apportion blame on the President when Mr. Akinci is indulging in a blame game against the Greek Cypriot side, weaken our position?
AK: We apportion responsibilities on the President with regards the way he handled the issue that caused the problems, the Enosis referendum. The National Council took a decision that for it be strong, the President’s statements should also have moved within the following framework that one the one hand a mistake was made by parliament, but I’m at the negotiating table, so come and let’s begin talks. Instead, the President issued a statement pretty much talking about what the Turkish Cypriot side did. Without question the other side did do a lot, but if you really want to start negotiations, you don’t follow this approach. You clarify that you remain consistent to what was agreed and that you are ready at the negotiating table. The President acted differently and instead of preventing the fire allowed it to spread. If AKEL acted to serve petty-considerations it would continue to criticize the President on this issue. When he himself made it clear that he opposes the parliament’s decision we welcomed it and urged the Turkish Cypriot side to respond to the President’s call to come to the negotiating table.
– Was AKEL disappointed by Mr. Akinci’s stand?
AK: When you have an unexpected reaction clearly there is some disappointment. But we should not get into to the logic of “they are all the same”. Akinci and Talat are not the same as Denktas and Eroglu. There might have been disagreements during the Christofias-Talat era, but one cannot erase the unprecedented convergence that were achieved and this is due to the fact that the two leaders believed in a bizonal, bicommunal federation, in a common country and whatever their disagreements they had got within range of a solution. Why couldn’t Christofias and Eroglu agree on convergences or Anastasiades with Eroglu and Akinci had to assume the leadership of the Turkish Cypriot side for the procedure to move forward? This does not of course mean that Turkey’s key role ceases to exist, but if you don’t have a leader who believes in the solution of the Cyprus problem, how can you overcome Turkey?
-You often state that Nicos Anastasiades and Nicolas Papadopoulos are thinking about presidential election. Is that bad?
AK: It is clear that Nicolas Papadopoulos is running for the presidential elections, as others are too. It’s their right. That’s not bad, but if we all say that our priority is the Cyprus problem and we mean it, we should leave it out of the pre-election campaign, because this inevitably affects positions on the problem. This has happened several times in the past.
For example, in 1992 even though Glafcos Clerides was stating that Georgos Vasiliou was implementing his policy with regards the Cyprus problem, he made a 180 degrees turn on his policy six months before the 1993 presidential election in order to forge an alliance with those circles and forces who criticized Vasiliou’s policy with which he agreed with.
Another example. Nicos Anastasiades accused Demetris Christofias for allegedly dragging his feet on the Cyprus problem, aiming to win a new five year presidential term of office and he suddenly signed with DIKO an agreement for the withdrawal of proposals so as to gain pre-election support. Thus the pre-election campaign adversely affects the Cyprus problem.
As regards Mr. Nicos Anastasiades himself, I will refer to a statement made by his Foreign Minister who replying to a question as to whether the pre-election campaign has started, he pretty much said that the President does not need to get into an election so soon. And he is correct in the sense that the President is exploiting his position to conduct an election campaign without announcing it. Currently one notices him solving all the problems, when for four years they remained unresolved. If the President admits that he is waging a pre-election campaign, it would damage rather than help him.
For AKEL the priority is the solution of the Cyprus problem and let me make it clear that we have not engaged in the pre-election campaign.
-When will AKEL do so?
AK: We haven’t gone into the logic to discuss it.
– Given that AKEL prioritizes the forging of alliances, can a common ground be found with political parties that you disagree on the Cyprus issue?
AK: We seek cooperation based on convergences on important issues of principles and the Cyprus problem is one of them. We will do so if and when we get to discuss the elections with the hope that it won’t be needed because we will move forward on the Cyprus problem.
-Does AKEL consider Georgos Lillikas an option?
AK: We haven’t discussed anything and I mean that, so objectively I can’t say. We say that our concern is the next generations, not the next elections and that is why we haven’t dealt with the issue, no matter what is being written and said.
– Can AKEL support a presidential candidate who opposes bizonal, bicommunal federation?
AK: Do you think that a party like AKEL will go back and regress so much on its policies so as to contradict its basic position? If you look at it historically, AKEL did not support and didn’t back any presidential candidate that did not advocate the fundamental essence, which is a bizonal, bicommunal federation for the solution of the Cyprus problem.
