Speech by the General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL A. Kyprianou at the event organized by the AKEL Delegation and GUE/NGL “The Cyprus problem – perspectives after Crans Montana”
27 June 2018, European Parliament, Brussels
I am delighted to be here once again in the European Parliament. I wish to thank the Confederal Group of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left GUE/NGL in particular, for giving us the opportunity to address all of you on developments surrounding the Cyprus problem and the prospects of resolving it. I thank the GUE/NGL Group because it has from a position of principle always supported the Cypriot people’s struggle for liberation and reunification.
The solution of the Cyprus problem will unquestionably open a window of hope for our country, but also for our region as a whole. The region of the Eastern Mediterranean is today an active volcano. Syria is only 105 kilometers away from our island. Turkey, the occupying country in Cyprus, is actively involved in the bloodshed in Syria. The aggressive pounding that Syria has been suffering for years has caused an enormous humanitarian crisis with millions of refugees. We as Cypriots know from our own bitter experience what being uprooted and a refugee means.
On this occasion, I once more want to urge the international community and the European community to engage more intensely and substantively with the refugee issue. They should both seek to address the causes that provoke this issue.
Our region for decades now is continuing to bleed also from the open wound called the Palestinian problem. Our position is very clear: the Palestinian problem must be solved on the basis of the agreed frameworks, for the benefit of both the Palestinians and the Israelis. Any attempt to create new fait accompli on the ground and the criminal aggressiveness Israel is carrying out are damaging the prospects of a lasting peace being achieved.
The Eastern Mediterranean deserves better days. It can become a factor of peace for the whole region. The solution of the Cyprus problem will represent a step in this direction. My own participation centres on the perspective that exists after the breakdown of the Crans Montana conference. Let me begin first with the admission that a historic opportunity for a solution to the Cyprus problem was missed there, as the UN Secretary-General himself pointed out. I do not consider it useful however for the needs of this discussion to refer to what happened at the Swiss resort.
What is important right now is what we do from now on. The historical experience of the Cyprus problem since 1974 shows that in periods where there is no negotiation procedure underway the situation deteriorates and new attempts are attempted by Turkey. I will point out indicatively that the so-called “TRNC” (Note: the illegal regime in the occupied areas) was proclaimed in 1983 after the rejection of the “Cuellar indicators”, which were a very general outline for negotiation. The official turn of Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot leadership from federation to confederation took place in 1997, when again there were no negotiations underway, and when the frenzy over the S300 missiles and the so-called “active volcano” theory were at their peak. Intense efforts for direct trade of the illegal pseudo-state with the outside world were made after the well-known outcome of the 2004 referenda.
Right now, after the break down at Crans Montana, Turkey is attempting to promote its unacceptable demand for a two-state solution. This is a development that will be catastrophic if anyone were to adopt it.
The Report submitted by the UN Secretary-General after the negative developments in Switzerland unfortunately exonerated Turkey from any responsibility. On the contrary, it assigned equal responsibilities for a lack of political will on the leaders of both communities. As a result, Turkey has been emboldened and is proceeding to issue provocative statements and actions. Their climax was the obstruction of the drilling on the part of the Italian company EMI within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Republic of Cyprus by threatening the use of force.
Regrettably, the collapse at the Crans Montana conference also had other ramifications. Trust between the two leaders was lost completely, who subsequently engaged in rhetoric that strengthened mistrust between the Cypriot people as a whole as to whether any agreement could be implemented in practice. This mistrust is being strengthened by provocative statements made by Turkish officials.
The faith of both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots that the solution of the Cyprus problem is feasible has also been lost. This situation favors an upsurge of nationalism and in the forces that do not want a solution in both communities. These are the forces that are more and more flirting intensely with the idea of definitive partition. Turkey is openly threatening the Republic of Cyprus, while Erdogan, with his stand and attitude, is provoking feelings of fear among Greek Cypriots who are wondering if it is with this Turkey that we are trying to find a viable solution which if nothing else should at least guarantee their security.
It was fully understood that until the elections in Turkey, there would be no moves on the Cyprus problem made. As AKEL strongly held the view that all the previous period should have been used for preparatory work. On the one hand, to send out positive messages to society about the need for a solution of the Cyprus problem; about how dangerous the continuation of the unacceptable status quo and the slide towards a definitive partition is; about the need to support the agreed framework of the solution as adopted by UN and other international organizations’ resolutions.
On the other hand, behind-the-scenes contacts between the two communities should be made with the aim of preparing the necessary ground for the resumption of substantive negotiations after elections in Turkey. Unfortunately none of this has happened.
The point now is to find a way to resume the negotiation procedure with a view to finding a solution on the basis of the agreed framework for a united state that will constitute a continuation of the Republic of Cyprus with a single sovereignty, a single international personality and a single citizenship, within the framework of a bi-zonal, bicommunal federation and with political equality of the two communities as defined in the relevant resolution of the UN Security Council.
The UN Secretary-General in his Report to the Security Council last September shows the way to achieve a resumption of negotiations aiming at the solution of the Cyprus problem. He calls on the two leaders to decide together that they will proceed with the necessary political will to a meaningful procedure. He does not confine himself to outlining this general position, but also sets out what a meaningful procedure means: that is to say, to continue the effort from where it had remained at Crans Montana.
In its essential part, the two leaders should reaffirm the convergences that had been achieved so far all these years, the Guterres framework and the mechanism for implementing the solution.
As far as the procedural part is concerned, there should be a package negotiation of the six core pending issues, which indeed he defines: Security and guarantees (at the conference table), territory, property, the effective participation in the bodies and decisions at a federal level, equal treatment of Greek and Turkish citizens (at the second table, namely negotiations 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 appropriate course to arrive at a successful conclusion, and indeed within a short period of time. Months before expressing this position of the UN Secretary-General and more specifically from the first conference in Geneva, we had proposed to the President of the Republic to proceed in a similar way; to proceed with an informal discussion with Mr. Akinci on all these issues. We simply didn’t include the issue of security. We also proposed that whether there was room for an understanding should be explored. If such an understanding was ascertained, then they should formalize the talks under the auspices of the UN to complete them.
This is what we proposed because all the chapters of the Cyprus problem are now at an advanced stage of convergence. Only two or three main issues now remain in each one of the six chapters. It is worth recalling that in his Report the UN Secretary-General stresses that even these issues are more or less solved, with the exception of property, where substantive issues remain to be resolved. Of course, we clarify that if the six chapters are agreed, there are still a number of issues that are still pending of lesser importance, that will be easier to agree upon afterwards
It is precisely for this reason that package negotiation is now imperative. The separate negotiation of each chapter has now reached its limits. The interconnected negotiation of what has remained provides a better possibility of arriving at a successful outcome. In addition, with the debate in the form of a package negotiation the problem that we are now constantly facing before us, what we discuss first and what we leave behind, is overcome. For example, President Anastasiades left the issue of executive power to the end, while Mr. Akinci did the same with the issue of Morphou. At some point, the President put forward the chapter on security and territory before the rest of the issues are discussed. Mr. Akinci is calling for a fixed timetable and so on. It is obvious, therefore, that the only effective way to cover the last and most difficult part is through a package negotiation.
Unfortunately, all through the previous period, we consumed our energies in issuing statements for domestic consumption purposes. We have lost time discussing the obvious, that is to say that there is one and only Guterres framework, instead of seeing how the ground can be prepared for resuming talks. We insist that any observations that exist as regards the framework will only be clarified if the procedure itself is resumed. The rest is lame excuses. At the same time, we have further deepened the division in society and unnecessarily intensified confrontations between the two communities.
Toumazos Tsielepis will refer to the chapter of energy, who will analyze the issue in depth. I will just say here that we know very well that Turkey is seeking a role on the region’s energy map and that the Turkish Cypriots want their share of the exploitation of the natural gas. This will only be achieved through a solution of the Cyprus problem. The issue of the Turkish Cypriot’s share in the country’s natural wealth is resolved definitely by the Christofias-Talat convergence. As far as Turkey is concerned, we have said many times that we are willing to discuss a possible cooperation on energy after the solution of the Cyprus problem, guided by the interests of Cyprus and of our people as a whole.
Last but not least, I would like to refer to the issue of Euro-Turkish relations. As AKEL, we support Turkey’s European perspective, dependent on the obligations it must fulfill towards this end, and in particular its obligations towards the Republic of Cyprus. A Turkey that operate on the basis of principles and the rules of the European Union will be preferable to today’s Turkey.
What is imperative right now is the resumption of substantive negotiations with the aim of reaching an agreement as soon as possible. To achieve this, the international community as a whole needs to encourage all the involved parties to cooperate. This principally concerns Turkey which has the main responsibility for the current situation on the Cyprus problem. Following that this also concerns the leaders of the two communities, who must comprehend the enormous benefits that will emerge for Cyprus and the Cypriot people from a just and correct solution. From the seat of the European Union, I strongly urge all the officials of the EU to contribute towards this end.
In conclusion, I want to assure you that AKEL remains firmly committed to a solution of the Cyprus problem based on the agreed framework. It will continue to work hard in this direction. In this difficult struggle for the liberation and reunification of our country and people, we look forward to the continuation of your support and solidarity, and we thank you warmly for this. We are certain that you share our belief that the solution of the Cyprus problem is in the interests of all: the Cypriot people as a whole, Greece, Turkey, the peoples of our region and the European Union.
