Intervention by the General Secretary of AKEL A. Kyprianou at the meeting of the Bi-communal Initiative for Peace on “Reunification and Federation – Rebuilding a peaceful future for Cyprus”

AKEL C.C. Press Office, 12 February 2018, Nicosia

Thank you very much for the invitation to speak at this event on behalf of AKEL. Permit me to greet my fellow speakers, but also the friends who honor us with their presence. I hope our discussion will be constructive and productive.

The theme of the discussion has two keywords: Reunification and Federation. For AKEL the reunification of our country and people is the first and principal goal of its struggle for decades. It is our unwavering goal. Federation is the means to fulfil this goal and the point where Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots meet.

We have accepted federation in order to rid ourselves of the occupation and reunite our country and people. We accepted federation to exclude the nightmare of partition.

The first thing we should all do here, if we mean what we say, is to dispel any illusion. That is to say, to tell the people the truth. If we abandon federation, on the one hand the majority of the Greek Cypriot parties will be speaking about a unitary state, and the majority of the Turkish Cypriot parties on the other about two states. That is to say, we will pave the way for partition.

Partition can come in two ways. Either by letting time pass by without any substantive negotiation, or by putting partition officially on the table. No matter which of the two options are chosen, the result will be the same. Cyprus as we know it will be lost once and for all.

On the contrary, the solution of the Cyprus problem will open a window of hope for our country and region as a whole. Cyprus will become a reunited state that will be a beacon and an example for the whole world. It will be a modern model of harmonious coexistence of two communities of different ethnic origin, language and religion which will be co-managing their common state. It will be a country that will have managed to drive out the armies and channel all its forces and resources into social investment and economic development.

The region of the Eastern Mediterranean is today an active volcano. The solution of the Cyprus problem will constitute a step towards making the country a bridge of peace between the countries of the region, but also between them and the European Union.

Unfortunately, a historic opportunity for the solution of the Cyprus problem was lost when the negotiations at Crans Montana broke down. There has been a lot of talk about what went on there. However, what really concerns us is what will happen from now on. The historical experience of the Cyprus problem since 1974 demonstrates that during periods when there is no ongoing negotiating procedure, the course of the solution of the Cyprus problem is trapped in fait accompli. That’s what we want to fight against so that the preconditions are created for a resumption of the substantive negotiations with a view to arriving at a solution as soon as possible on the basis of the agreed framework.

The UN Secretary-General’s Report after the negative developments in Switzerland has relieved Turkey of all responsibility and apportioned equal responsibilities for a lack of political will on the shoulders of the leaders of the two communities.

What is the situation today? Turkey is engaging in provocative actions in the Republic of Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone, while the trust between the two leaders has eroded. Moreover, in society there is a collective pessimism with regards the prospects for a solution. The belief of the majority of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots has been lost that a solution can be found. This, logically, favours the rise of nationalism and strengthens those forces that do not want the solution. It paves the way for thoughts about other options.

Faced with this situation as AKEL, we insist that Cyprus without a solution won’t have any future. The goal is to find a solution on the basis of the agreed framework for a united state, that will represent a continuation of the Republic of Cyprus with a single sovereignty, a single international personality and a single citizenship, with a state structure of a bizonal, bicommunal federation and political equality of the two communities as defined in the relevant Security Council resolutions.

The Secretary-General of the UN in his report to the Security Council last September shows the way for the resumption of negotiations aiming at the solution of the Cyprus problem. He asks the two leaders to decide together that they will proceed with the necessary political will towards a meaningful procedure. He does not stick to this general position, but also defines a procedure that should be meaningful: to continue the effort from where it had remained at Crans Montana.

In its substantive part, it has to be based on the convergences that have been achieved so far all these years, on the Guterres framework and the mechanism for implementing the solution.

As regards the procedural part, there should be a package negotiation of the six main pending issues, which indeed he defines: Security and guarantees (at the conference table), territory, property, the effective participation in federal bodies and decisions, the equal treatment of Greek and Turkish citizens (at the second table, negotiation between the leaders of the two communities).

As AKEL we fully agree with the above approach. At the point where we have reached, this is the correct path to pursue in order to arrive at a successful outcome, and indeed in a short space of time. We have called and will continue to call on both leaders to demonstrate determination, consistency and a sincere will to resume negotiations on this basis.

We believe that Turkey bears the primary responsibility for the non-solution of the Cyprus problem. If our criticism is somewhat focused on Mr. Anastasiades – apart from his regressions and contradictions – it is on the absence of a vision. Unfortunately, traditionally and historically I would say, the ruling dominant forces within the Greek Cypriot community don’t have a vision for the reunited Cyprus of tomorrow. They do not have a vision, or a proposal, for the future of Cyprus. That is why they often give the impression that all they want or are able to do is to manage the existing situation.

As AKEL, we insist on talking to Cypriots about our vision of Cyprus, for the whole of Cyprus. A vision that will take practical form through the submission of concrete proposals that abolish ethnic confrontation, tear down the barriers that want Cypriots to live side by side.

We insist on talking about the Cyprus of tomorrow, where Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots will live together. For us, the cause of Cyprus is not some narrow-minded communal affair. The agony of the Turkish Cypriots for survival in the land that gave birth to them is our own anxiety too.

We are a voice that raises its voice for the whole of Cyprus. That is why we insist and will continue to insist that the Turkish Cypriot, as well as the Greek Cypriot community, will once and for all rid themselves of whatever threatens their survival only when they can coexist within the framework of a federation; only when they start to lay the foundations of common life, common social and political action.

Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots will be able to work on their future only when it will be safeguarded that they live it together, as part of a solution that will end the occupation and colonalisation; a solution that will restore the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and unity of the Republic of Cyprus.

A solution based on the United Nations resolutions, the High-Level Agreements, International and European Law.

A solution that will demilitarize Cyprus and exclude any guarantees or intervention rights in the internal affairs of the country by foreign powers.

A solution that will reunite the land, the people, the institutions and the economy within the framework of a bicommunal, bizonal federation with political equality as described in the texts of the United Nations.

In our view, federation is not a pedestal of Greek Cypriot power, but an arena of creative cooperation between equal partners and compatriots within the context of a reunited state with a single sovereignty, a single citizenship and a single international personality, where it will be safeguarded that the two communities will be living and working together in a united and independent homeland. This, of course, does not mean that the historical relations of the two communities with Greece and Turkey are abolished. It does mean, however, that our people, all Cypriots, can manage their own affairs without any guardians; that Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots will have been emancipated by then and will be able to work together for their common future.

In 1989, the late Ozger Ozgur addressed the following question to our people: “Will we remain apathetic, watching our homeland change ownership or will we declare “this country is ours” and defend it”?

So many years have gone by and we still face the question. And we must answer it.