Meeting of AKEL and CTP
Statement by the General Secretary of AKEL Stefanos Stefanou following the meeting with the Republican Turkish Party (CTP)
15 May 2026, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia
Today we had a meeting with the President and members of the leadership of the Turkish Republican Party (CTP). A party with which we have a historic and traditional cooperation on issues related not just to the Cyprus problem. A party with which we are developing cooperation in our joint efforts to achieve a solution to the Cyprus problem, based on the framework of a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation with political equality, as it has been outlined in the relevant Resolutions of the UN.
We reviewed the situation surrounding the Cyprus problem since 2017, following the failure of the conference at Crans-Montana. We agreed that this situation adds to the existing problems regarding efforts to reach a solution, and we reiterated our desire and our commitment to break the deadlock, to continue the negotiations from where they were suspended, so that we can complete the effort to achieve a solution, preserving the convergence that have been recorded and, more generally, the negotiation acquis.
We have agreed to intensify the work in the joint working groups we have set up, and especially the working group on the Cyprus problem, so that within this group we can continue and intensify the specific discussions we are having on aspects of the Cyprus problem, but also on how we can utilize tools and incentives, so that we can make use of the current timing to push things towards the resumption of the negotiations.
We also agreed that we will continue the work we are doing among Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, informing them regarding the basis and content of a solution, because it is extremely important for Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots to know about both the efforts toward a solution and the goal of the solution, as well as what the various definitions and objectives we have regarding the Cyprus solution entail. For that reason, we are continuing and intensifying this effort.
