May the UN Secretary-General Special Envoy’s visit be the starting point for the resumption of negotiations

AKEL on UN Secretary-General Special Envoy Jane Lute’s visit to Cyprus

Statement by AKEL C.C. Spokesperson Stefanos Stefanou

AKEL C.C. Press Office, 23 July 2018, Nicosia

AKEL expresses the wish and aspiration that the visit of the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Cyprus Jane Lute will be the starting point for the resumption of the negotiations on the Cyprus problem. Experience on the Cyprus problem has shown that deadlocks and stalemates, especially when accompanied by the assignment of responsibilities on our side as well, as a rule lead to new serious fait accompli.

For the UN Secretary-General to be persuaded to undertake a new meaningful initiative, as he himself repeatedly mentions in his relevant Reports, it is imperative that both sides accept the continuation of the negotiations from the point they had been suspended and with the same procedure that was followed at Crans Montana.

We have no information on what the President of the Republic said to Mrs. Lute, neither of course did the President feel the need to consult with the political forces before meeting the Special Envoy. We hope he gave an official and clear answer, as the UN Secretary-General requested in his latest Good Services Report.

We also hope that the Turkish Cypriot side acts positively so that the preconditions are created to pave the way for the resumption of negotiations.