The General Secretary of AKEL Andros Kyprianou replies to a journalist’s question about the President’s statements
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 21 November 2018, Nicosia
The General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL Andros Kyprianou replying to a journalist’s question regarding yesterday’s statements by the President of the Republic stated the following:
To be calm is not a bad thing. In good humour, I would say that calmness is not one of the strong characteristics of the President of the Republic. Of course, in politics permitting the consolidation of a protracted stalemate is extremely dangerous for our country’s future and prospects. That would lead to a gradual drift towards a final partition, which I want to clarify once again, AKEL will never accept, without, of course, implying that this must force us in the direction of accepting any bad solution.
Now, concerning Mr. Anastasiades’ call that we should wake up from the lethargy of an ideal world, I want to say that we aren’t in any state of lethargy, nor do we believe that the world is ideal. On the contrary, we know very well how the modern world works and we have repeatedly expressed our position on the prevailing situation in the world.
I worry however whether Mr. Anastasiades after 45-50 years of engagement in politics has now discovered that the world is not ideal. And indeed in contrast to what he was saying in 2004 about the Annan plan, this is extremely worrying. I will therefore say that AKEL is fully aware of the current situation on our island. AKEL is very aware of the difficulties stemming from Turkey’s attitude towards the efforts to solve the Cyprus problem, and consequently it insists that we need to be consistent and committed to the goal of reaching a solution. Otherwise, with contradictions, regressions and experimentations, as Mr. Anastasiades has been acting in recent years, the only thing that is achieved is to make it easier for Turkey to promote its goals.
Consequently the one who needs to face up to reality is Mr. Anastasiades himself and certainly not AKEL.
