Statements by the General Secretary of AKEL A. Kyprianou following the meeting with the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Cyprus Stanislav Osadchiy
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 30th March 2018, Nicosia
We had a fruitful discussion with our friend the Ambassador of the Russian Federation during which we reviewed the situation as it is evolving on the Cyprus problem. I have reiterated on the part of AKEL that for us the resumption of substantive negotiations is very important; negotiations that should aim at reaching an agreement as soon as possible. Our view is that both sides must continue the negotiations from the point where they had remained in Crans Montana, namely on the basis of the framework tabled by the UN Secretary-General.
We are extremely worried about the protracted stalemate. If it continues for a long time, we will inevitably witness a deterioration of the situation if we also take into account developments within the Turkish Cypriot community and the suffocating control Turkey is trying to impose in the occupied territories. There is a danger that we will slowly slip into situations that will not enable us to reunify our homeland. We will never compromise with this idea. No matter how difficult trying to achieve a solution is, we believe that we must make efforts at least to see whether a solution can be reached. If not, the responsibilities must be apportioned solely on Turkey.
I would like to thank my friend the Ambassador, but also the Russian Federation for their support based on principles towards the Cypriot people in its efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem and for the clear positions he too has recently expressed in interviews he has given with regards the framework on the basis of which the Cyprus problem must be solved.
I thank you very much Ambassador and look forward to the Russian Federation’s help so that we can achieve a solution
On the issue of the deportations of Russian diplomats
AK: We have exchanged some information. You know I think there is a great deal of hypocrisy on the Western side in the way they behave towards Russia. First of all, they themselves do not know what happened. They are constantly changing their versions of what actually happened. Now they are saying that the poison was on the door knob. It makes you really wonder about what they have said continually. But you cannot, based on mere suspicions, behave towards a country like the Russian Federation in this way, when Turkey is committing crimes against humanity in Syria, and there is no reaction either on the part of the European Union or the United States. It is – to say the least – hypocritical on the part of the West.
Do you have any information whether our government is taking part in this scenario?
AK: I have heard the Foreign Minister’s public statements that he won’t take such measures and I would like to welcome this stand. I want to greet the government’s attitude.
Erdogan is proclaiming that he will bring a drilling rig and start drilling. The President of the Republic said that if that is the case, we are obliged to resort to the UN Security Council. What the Russian Federation’s stand be if this were to occur?
AK: The President of the Republic, when we had the meeting of the heads of the political parties at the Presidential House, said that the possibility of appealing to the Security Council is an issue that needs to be studied very seriously because there is a danger that we will take recourse to the Security Council in order to achieve something and end up with the opposite result. We fully agree with this approach of the President of the Republic, namely that this issue must be studied very seriously, thoroughly and carefully in order to avoid any different results that the ones hoped for.
