Statements by the General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL Stefanos Stefanou after the meeting with the Greek Prime Minister K. Mitsotakis
15 September 2021, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia
Q: This is your first visit to Athens in your capacity as General Secretary of AKEL and your first meeting with Mr. Mitsotakis. What is your assessment of this meeting and what did you focus on?
SS: It was a meeting I would say full of content and very enlightening as regards the Cyprus problem in particular. We reviewed with the Greek Prime Minister the situation as it has evolved in recent years after the failure at Crans Montana, the deadlock and the upgrading of the provocative actions of Turkey and the Turkish side in general.
We discussed what must be done in view of this situation, which Turkey is using to consolidate the partitionist fait accompli on the ground and at sea. For us, it is clear that in Turkey’s attempt to divert the efforts for a solution of the Cyprus problem away from the Resolutions of the UN and the High-Level Agreements, this must make us more consistent and more persistent in our efforts to remain consistent both to the framework of the UN Resolutions on Cyprus and the High-Level Agreements which provide for a solution of a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality as described by the UN.
At the same time we also discussed the procedure and how we must try to break the deadlock and put pressure on Turkey to abandon its unacceptable positions on the Cyprus problem. It is clear that there is no other option than to insist on continuing the negotiations at Crans Montana, preserving the convergences registered and discussing on the basis of Mr. Guterres’ Framework.
Furthermore, we also discussed with the Greek Prime Minister the proposal that AKEL has submitted on the Cyprus problem to the President of the Republic in relation to both the continuation of the negotiations and creating incentives and a momentum, as the UN Secretary General himself is calling for, so that we can create momentum for the resumption of the negotiations.
It was a very useful meeting and we had a very good discussion.
Q: Mr. Mitsotakis said that at this stage we need full coordination between Greece and Cyprus on the issues that concern us. How will Athens help in practice?
SS: Coordination is an indispensable precondition. You realise that in the difficulties that exist and are evident in view of this Turkey and its behavior, there must be coordination between Cyprus and Greece. Over time, Greece has been Cyprus’ main pillar of support in the effort to solve the Cyprus problem. As long as the Cyprus problem remains unresolved, it is obvious that this affects Greek-Turkish relations, so the effort is joint. The solution of the Cyprus problem will also help to solve Greek-Turkish relations, but at the same time it will also help to the solution of a number of other problems which unfortunately are many in our region.
