Statement by the General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL A.Kyprianou on the trilateral meeting in Berlin
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 26th November 2019, Nicosia
I would like to make it clear from the beginning that our statement is being made subject to a comprehensive briefing by the President of the Republic about what exactly has been said and decided at the meeting in Berlin. We base our statements on the public statement made by the UN Secretary-General and the positions expressed by the leaders of the two communities.
We therefore have the following to say:
– The fact that the basis for the negotiation and solution of the Cyprus problem, that is to say, the solution of bi-zonal, bi-communal federation with political equality as provided for in the relevant UN resolutions, is certainly positive. This is extremely important. We hope that after this development any thoughts, any flirting whatsoever by all the involved parties will once and for all be put to rest, regardless of what the basis of the solution of the Cyprus problem will be. We hope that the debate over a two-state solution or a confederation will end.
– We also note that as it has been agreed, the Terms of Reference – that is to say the basis on which the negotiations will be conducted – will be constituted by three elements: the Joint Declaration of 11th February 2014, the convergences that have been achieved so far and the Framework of the UN Secretary-General of June 30th. I hope that any debate on this issue too will now come to an end.
– The fact that the two leaders agreed that the solution of the Cyprus problem in the foreseeable future is of the utmost importance for the future prosperity of the two communities is also positive. Namely that the solution of the Cyprus problem must not be deferred to a distant future. It is therefore important that from now onwards the two leaders should attach importance, through their rhetoric and initiatives, to explaining the necessity and benefits that will materialize for all Cypriots with the reunification of our common homeland.
On the other hand of course, we cannot but note that the fact that there was no agreement on the drawing up of the Terms of Reference remains problematic. We understand that Turkey without doubt has a say with regards issues relating to security and guarantees, but a preparatory work that would be done by our own side and the Turkish Cypriot side would greatly facilitate the discussions at the informal conference. Also negative is the fact that the informal five-member meeting is likely to take place after April 2020 and the “elections” in the occupied territories for the leadership of the Turkish Cypriot community. We do not know who will assume the leadership of the Turkish Cypriot community come April and one can understand that this (outcome) may pose more difficulties as to the solution of the Cyprus problem.
Overall, the outcome of the Berlin trilateral meeting is a confirmation that the new effort for a solution of the Cyprus problem must continue from where it had remained at Crans Montana. This, of course, has come after a delay of two and a half years, and this is extremely negative, because of the regressions and contradictions, whereby – during these two and a half years – new negative fait accompli occurred against Cyprus and its sovereign rights. However, most important of all, this step taken yesterday will only be meaningful if consistency and continuity is demonstrated by all involved parties. The two leaders must not only declare, but also mean it when they say that they accept the continuation of negotiations from where they had remained at Crans Montana; that they shouldn’t reopen convergences and set terms and preconditions outside the Framework of 30th June. The efforts AKEL will undertake in the period ahead will be in this direction.
