The government and ruling forces were cultivating illusions during the elections on the hydrocarbons issue
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 23rd February 2018, Nicosia
The statements made by Foreign Minister Mr. Kasoulides with regards the warnings issued by the US about their inability to exert their influence on Turkey highlight the illusions that the government and ruling forces were cultivating during the pre-election campaign on the hydrocarbons issue; illusions expressed in pre-election statements of the type “the government of Nicos Anastasiades is proving in practice that it is fully protecting and in absolute terms the interests and sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus”, which the Anastasiades election campaign had made just five days before the elections.
It is now quite clear that while the government and ruling forces had been receiving warnings and had indications about Turkey’s reactions. They concealed them and handled the issue to serve communication considerations in the run-up to the presidential elections. The government and ruling forces are experts in the art of deceiving the people for petty-political and electoral expediencies. They did the same thing in 1998 with the S300 missile fiasco, they acted in the same way in the 2013 presidential elections and they have also done the same thing during the recent elections.
The government must draw the correct lessons from the past and act with consistency and responsibility in the direction of the defence of our sovereign rights, the de-escalation of the tension, which Turkey is provoking with its pirate behaviour, and the resumption of the negotiations on the Cyprus problem – as requested by the UN Secretary-General. The solution of the Cyprus problem, with the convergences regarding the hydrocarbons given, represents the most effective way by which we can utilize our country’s natural wealth for the benefit of our people.
