Introductory speech by the General Secretary of the Central Committee of AKEL, Stefanos Stefanou, at the meeting with the Ambassadors of Arab States
Journalists’ House, 18 April 2024
Honourable Madam Ambassador,
Honourable Ambassadors of Arab States in Cyprus,
I would like to thank you all for your positive response to our invitation to meet and exchange views on the extremely critical situation in our region and on how we can contribute towards building a future of peace and cooperation. Particularly, in the content of the current situation we find ourselves, on the background of very dangerous developments and the danger of a more general conflagration in the region.
As a Party, we believe that a discussion and exchange of views in a spirit of mutual respect and understanding is the way to overcome differences and problems and build relationships of trust and cooperation. All the more so when our region is plagued by wars and conflicts and the security and future of our peoples is under threat. AKEL has always followed this policy, both within Cyprus and in our international relations.
In recent years, the international situation has been characterised by increasing instability and uncertainty, which leads us to uncharted and unpredictable developments. On a global scale, conflicting interests over the control of geostrategically, economically and energy important regions have led to an escalation of tensions and conflicts, but also to economic wars.
At the same time, recurrent economic crises have caused the impoverishment of large masses but also states, with multiple consequences. Along with military conflicts, economic crises have also provoked large waves of refugees and migrants seeking safer areas and a better future. Thousands of refugees are also arriving in Cyprus – a country and a people that has in its recent history experienced war, and where still the wounds of the Turkish occupation and the uprooting remain open. We believe that only by ending the causes of refugee and migration flows, millions of people will not be uprooted.
Speaking last February on the UN’s priorities for 2024, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stressed that our planet is entering an era of chaos. And that what people are calling for and want is peace. I fully agree with him. No matter what weaknesses and problems the United Nations faces in its functioning and work, humanity needs it and must strengthen it to protect its future. As well as, no matter how many violations and blatantly distorted interpretations of international law is subjected to, it remains an extremely fundamental protective shield for states and peoples.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Our meeting is taking place in a period when the state of Israel is continuing its criminal policy against the Palestinians, as well as is continuing its offensive policy against Lebanon and Syria.
The far-right government of Benjamin Netanyahu, instrumentalised the truly condemnable bloody attack by Hamas on 7 October to intensify its offensive policy victimising thousands of civilians, women and children. In front of the eyes of all humanity, a humanitarian catastrophe is taking place, a war is being waged against civilians who have been pushed into a corner of the Gaza strip, completely unprotected- a genocide is ongoing. War crimes are being recorded and broadcasted on television screens, while Israel disregards the international community and every aspect of international and humanitarian law. The fact that the International Court of Justice in The Hague has accepted South Africa’s application against the State of Israel, which is required to report within a deadline on compliance with the orders issued by the Court last January, including the mandate to improve the delivery of humanitarian aid and end incitement to genocide, demonstrates the dimensions of the crime that is being committed.
It is clear that as far as Palestine is concerned, history did not begin nor has it stopped on 7 October 2023. For some countries, allies of Israel, the USA and most EU countries, all started and stopped on October 7th. And while for AKEL every human life counts, at the same time we cannot accept that one person’s life is more precious than another’s. We do not accept the justification of proportionality when it comes to human lives. We do not accept under any circumstances the double-standards policies which have become dominant for some states, for which all kinds of interests take precedence over international law. The political stance of these states, which continue to supply the Israeli military machine, in the midst of this unilateral war, with bombs, ammunition and bomber parts, makes them complicit in the crime being committed.
We do not want our country to be complicit in any crime. There is evidence of the transfer of military material to Israel through the air base at Akrotiri. And there is an open admission by the British government of its use on the night of 13 April to support Israel. We are totally opposed to the use of the territory of Cyprus against the peoples of our region, against any state. The British military bases in Cyprus are an anachronism and a relic of the colonial era.
The creation of a humanitarian corridor, on the initiative of the Republic of Cyprus, which could have added a small even support to the land transport of much-needed supplies for the starving people in Gaza, has been effectively cancelled by Israel’s criminal attack on representatives of humanitarian organisations. Only land transport and distribution by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) can truly assist the population. And those states that have cut off financial support to UNRWA are in essence becoming complicit in the crime. You all know far better than we do what is happening in Rafah and what the consequences may be if indeed Netanyahu and his government’s intentions are to push into Egypt the 1.5 million Palestinians he has cornered in Rafah, carrying out his inhumane ethnic cleansing plans.
The Israeli occupation and colonisation of Palestine does not fit within international law and must be terminated, as the resolutions of the UN have been demanding for decades.
AKEL believes that the international community must immediately proceed to the recognition of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital. The UN member states must put the resolutions into practice through their stance.
I cannot but refer to the EU’s attitude too as to what is happening in Gaza and in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. EU officials are verbally expressing their concern about the civilian population, but the EU has always given the State of Israel preferential treatment and access to its internal market and its various programmes, including military ones. This preferential treatment has not ended even now, and the EU has an instrument of its own acquis in its hands: Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which provides for the suspension of the Agreement in the event of human rights violations. I do not think I need to elaborate further.
Right now, our region is facing the danger of regional conflagration. AKEL is against any provocations and actions that lead to the flaring up of the region. In particular, we are against Iran’s strike against Israel last Sunday. But we do not turn a blind eye to the fact that this was caused by Israel itself that had previously struck Iran’s consulate in Damascus, which constitutes a flagrant violation of the Vienna Convention. This downward spiral must stop here.
I cannot but mention the hypocritical exhortations of Israel’s allies not to retaliate against Iran while assuring Israel that they will support it if Iran retaliates. In essence, they are fuelling the vicious circle and adding fuel to the fire.
As AKEL we denounce Israel’s continuous and provocative attacks against Lebanon and Syria, which constitute a violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the two states. The involvement has also included the Red Sea, which in fact has implications for international transport, trade and the economy mainly of European states, but also of Cyprus.
A regional flare-up, I fear, will not be just regional. The possession of nuclear weapons by Israel, Government Ministers of which have demanded their use against the Palestinians, can only provoke terror for the future of our region. We are in favour of a complete ban on nuclear weapons in our region and, of course, throughout the whole world.
This military spiral is leading to destruction and we must stop it. The only way is through diplomatic means. The path of negotiations leading to a political solution. At the heart of the solution lies the freeing of Palestine. On this occasion too, I would like to reaffirm AKEL’s unreserved solidarity with the just struggle of the heroic Palestinian people.
Our country is historically and constantly linked to the countries and peoples of your countries. Throughout the centuries we have come to know and influenced each other, building and enriching the culture of our countries. But also, in the political field, our countries got to know each other and cooperated in international fora such as the United Nations and the Non-Aligned Movement. Many of us in Cyprus remember that during the difficult years Cyprus went through, thousands of Cypriots worked in several of your countries providing a great economic support to our country especially after the 1974 coup d’état and the Turkish invasion and occupation.
We are pleased to note the significant development, especially over the last 20 years, of relations at the political and economic level between Cyprus and your countries. These are relations that can be of mutual benefit and at the same time help the cooperation and development of our entire region.
Cyprus is the closest EU member-state to the Middle East. As such, it has a responsibility to lend to the EU’s policy towards the region the correct dimension of mutual respect, cooperation on an equal basis and with sensitivity to the specificities of each state.
An important aspect of our relations with your countries is also your interest and support for the solution of the Cyprus problem. For this reason, I would like to thank you for your principled positions in favour of the reunification of Cyprus and to refer to the most recent developments, given that an exploratory effort by María Angela Holguín Cuellar, the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy on Cyprus, is also underway.
Let me say from the outset that for us in AKEL, the only solution that offers a real way forward is the solution of a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality as described in the Resolutions of the UN. Within the framework of this solution, the single sovereignty, single international personality and single citizenship can and must be guaranteed. The community and human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Cypriots, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, can and must also be ensured.
The Cyprus problem today is at a very critical stage, perhaps the most critical stage it has ever been. The failure at the Crans Montana [conference on Cyprus] in 2017 has made the situation much worse. For more than six years there has been no negotiation procedure underway. Never before has such a long period of time lapsed without any negotiations. During this period, Turkey has violated, for the first time, the status quo concerning the Famagusta issue with the danger of colonisation visible. Furthermore, Turkey has sent exploratory vessels into the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Republic of Cyprus, and is attempting violations in parts of the [UN-administered] buffer zone. The worst development is the insistence on a two state solution, to which Turkey and the current Turkish-Cypriot leadership under Mr. Tatar have gone back to after twenty years.
Our primary objective was and remains the solution of the Cyprus problem. We insist on the need for a resumption of the talks from the point where they were interrupted, preserving the convergences that have been recorded so far and the Guterres Framework, which must become a strategic agreement, thus making a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem inevitable.
What is needed is for such initiatives to be taken that can create momentum to break the deadlock and hold all parties involved in the Cyprus problem to account. As is well known, AKEL has submitted a comprehensive proposal on how we can move forward to create momentum for the resumption of a dialogue.
Our proposal includes four main steps:
First, the constant underlining of our consistency and insistence on the agreed basis for a solution of a bicommunal, bizonal federation with political equality, as outlined in the relevant Resolutions of the UN.
Secondly, the continuation of the negotiations from where they were left in 2017 on the basis of the Guterres Framework, preserving all the convergences that have been recorded.
Thirdly, the formulation of a positive agenda in relation to Turkey and the Turkish-Cypriot community, placing the issue of energy at its centre, in such a way and with such a content that it does not become a disincentive or the sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus are violated.
The fourth step of our proposal is the implementation of specific measures of support for the Turkish-Cypriot community by the Republic of Cyprus. Measures have recently been announced, which constitute a positive step, but they need to be enriched.
No one can predict what the response of the Turkish side will be to this proposal that I have outlined. However, at a time when the UN Secretary-General’s personal envoy is having contacts to explore the possibility of resuming negotiations, we consider it useful to repeat this proposal.
Particularly today, with the critical developments in our region, AKEL considers the solution of the Cyprus problem even more imperative and urgent, on the basis of what we have said above. The solution of the Cyprus problem will have a positive impact on our wider region and at the same time Cyprus itself will be better and more effectively able to function as a bridge of peace between the states of our region and the EU member-states. AKEL is working for and believes in this future of peace and cooperation.
With our meeting and discussion today, I believe we will be able to actively contribute towards this end.
Thank you
