Interview of the General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL Stefanos Stefanou on the “FrontPage” SIGMA TV program
7 October 2022
SIGMA: What do you think of Turkey’s provocative actions and the Cyprus problem?
SS: The first thing we see – and we are not just saying this now – is that a prolonged stalemate [on the Cyprus problem] with Turkey relieved of responsibilities is being exploited by the occupying power to impose new fait accompli. We also note the fact that the Turkish Cypriot side is now officially putting forward the demand for a two state solution together with Turkey. For that reason, if we fail to break the prolonged deadlock, on the Cyprus problem, the passage of time will inevitably lead us to the consolidation of the fait accompli.
SIGMA: Is that in our hands?
SS: What is in our hands is the need to take initiatives to revive the interest of the international community, because the international community itself has started to consider that there is a “frozen conflict” here in Cyprus, as it is called in diplomatic language.
The Secretary General of the UN for 4 years after Crans Montana has been saying that the talks should resume from the point where they had remained on the basis of the Framework he himself had put forward and by safeguarding the convergences that have been recorded. In the last two years, in two resolutions approved by the UN Security Council, the Secretary General has not made any reference to this, frustrated by the situation as a whole, and I would say [he is] pessimistic.
SIGMA: Is he frustrated or is the Secretary General also showing tolerance towards Turkey’s stand influenced by others?
SS: The Secretary General of the UN has been disappointed since 2017. In the Report he submitted back then he apportioned responsibilities on both sides, holding the Greek Cypriot side equally responsible too for the stalemate noted on the Cyprus problem.
When from time to time President Anastasiades – he had neither a strategy in place, nor consistency or any plan for the resumption of the negotiations – remembered to address the UN Secretary General and tell him “I want to return to the negotiating table”, the Secretary General’s response, either through his Spokesperson or himself, was to signal that he had no trust in either the Greek Cypriot or the Turkish Cypriot side too.
Optimism or even interest do not develop by themselves, you create them. That is precisely why AKEL pressingly reiterates that in a specific way and through the assumption of concrete initiatives we have to generate the interest of the international community and at the same time we have to put the dilemma before Turkey to come to the negotiations. Will Turkey come? If we don’t not try, we will never know. If Turkey does not come to the negotiations, we will end up with a deadlock and fait accompli will be consolidated…Fait accompli are already being consolidated on the ground and, regrettably, in people’s consciences too.
The events of recent years have shown that many things we wanted to do as a country cannot be done as long as the sovereign rights of our country are prevented from being implemented by Turkey. A characteristic example is the energy issue. We only have one confirmed drilling that has taken place since 2011…
SIGMA: We don’t even know if we’re going to manage to extract natural gas from there…
SS: The biggest problem before us is that we face a regional bully in the region, like Turkey. Consequently, you don’t know in what situations and how it will react. Turkey is a superpower in the region. You can’t change its geography position. You can try to change the terms of neighbourhood relations in favour of peace and cooperation, which means a solution to the Cyprus problem.
SIGMA: We have made huge mistakes on the energy issue, let’s not blame everything on Turkey…
SS: When this government was elected there was a comprehensive energy plan in place with the creation of a liquefied natural gas plant as a key pillar of the plan. This station would not just be for Cyprus – it would have been unprofitable if it were to serve just Cyprus’ natural gas. It was meant to be for the whole region and that is precisely what Egypt is doing now. When I was visiting Israel with President Demetris Christofias, Netanyahu begged for this station to be established in Cyprus because the only country he trusted for cooperation in the region was Cyprus. Hence, Israel could have brought the natural gas reserves to Cyprus, which are a great amount, so that they could be liquefied and exported to wherever it sees fit.
From time to time, whenever we had elections, grandiose statements were made by the government ruling forces, but facts themselves were glaring: We have one drilling that has been confirmed which was made during the Christofias administration in 2011, namely the ‘Aphrodite’ field, on Block 12.
We will once again hear grandiose statements made to serve electoral considerations and experiences. Developments in Ukraine have exacerbated the energy crisis, and for that reason the issue of energy could be made use of – AKEL has been submitting a proposal to Mr. Anastasiades for two years now – in general and more specifically the Cyprus natural gas issues in particular could be made use of as a tool to push things towards the resumption of the negotiations. In politics, nothing arises by chance if there are no mutual interests-motives involved or if you have the power to impose your own position.
SIGMA: On the presidential elections. The candidate supported by AKEL-Left is, so far, lagging behind in the polls…
SS: No, he is not behind. In all the polls he is in the same position as DISY President and candidate A.Neofytou. Both Mr. Neofytou and Mr. Christodoulides have been campaigning for a few years now. Andreas Mavroyiannis began his campaign in the last two months, bearing in mind that August is a holiday month. So the potential is there.
Recent election battles demonstrate that the election situation takes shape in October, November and December. Let me remind you that in 2018, Stavros Malas [the candidate AKEL supported] was lagging behind the two other main candidates in the polls, Nicolas Papadopoulos and Nicos Anastasiades, who carried out his election campaign through the government, by dishing out numerous benefits and with the advantage the given President has. We eventually had a very different result. We saw supposed favourites not confirming the predictions made by polls.
Andreas Mavroyiannis is in a very good position and there are prospects. Firstly, the further increase recorded and observed in the rallying of people underway [around the candidacy of A.Mavroyiannis] which we see happening. Secondly, the increase in the influx of voters from other political parties. We saw a sample of that in the mass meeting held in Freedom Square – both in the participation of personalities and candidates in other elections from other political spectrums. At the same time, A.Mavroyiannis has at the support of civil society.
SIGMA: Many say that Mavroyiannis was a choice made that is doomed to fail…and that AKEL does not want to govern.
SS: For AKEL, power is not an end in itself. AKEL wants to see in Cyprus a government and a President who will serve with consistency the public interest of our people, society and our Cyprus. Given that Cyprus has slid into the mire of numerous deadlocks and scandals, we must put an end to this administration. At the same time we should open up the perspective for our country because Cyprus can! Cyprus has talented people, it has potential and it has advantages that must be properly utilised. And since Cyprus can, we have chosen a candidate who on the one hand is honest and sincere – not to make pledges during the pre-election but on the day after the elections doing the exactly opposite – and on the other has the knowledge and independence from party agendas, to be able to rally/unite forces and win the elections.
SIGMA: Why couldn’t the left run with its own candidate?
SS: AKEL could have done so. But the specific conditions told us that by running with your own candidate you could manage to rally your own forces, but that’s about as far as our candidate could go. Society was not ready to make such a choice. So we sought [a candidate] from a broader progressive spectrum, a candidate that all political forces know.
SIGMA: Andreas Mavroyiannis’ honesty is acknowledged by even his political opponents. Whether he is accepted remains to be seen.
SS: It is already visible. I repeat: in just two months he has reached the same level in terms of polling numbers as his main rivals. Things are changing dynamically in these next few months – October, November and December – because more and more people are watching and taking a stand themselves. I recall that in previous elections the favourites as the polls had indicated did not pass. I would like to refer to the case of T. Papadopoulos in 2008, who started as a favourite and did not make it to the second round. We are convinced – seeing the progress in the acceptance of Mavroyiannis’ candidacy – that with our hard work we can win the elections.
SIGMA: AKEL knows how to wage election campaigns and will not let the candidate down.
SS: Do you know why AKEL knows how to conduct election campaigns? Because it does not confine itself to engaging in communication games and smiles, as certain people do.
SIGMA: But it’s an election…
SS: We live in the age of communication/images. Communication policies/soundbites very often take precedence over the substance. We don’t underestimate the value of communication policies. At the same time we know society and the problems that it faces which is why we want to move Cyprus forward…
