The President’s stance after Talat’s statements increases our concerns
Statement by the General Secretary of AKEL A.Kyprianou
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 9th November 2019, Nicosia
Regarding Mr. Talat’s statement that Mr. Anastasiades told him that the upcoming trilateral meeting in Berlin was a waste of money, I would like to say two things. Let’s separate one from each other.
The first is that the positions expressed by Mr. Talat were not just statements reported in the media as Government Spokesman Mr. Prodromou had characterized them. He has an obligation to respond. The government has developed the notion that the best way to deal with problems it itself provokes is to ignore them until they go away. This can’t be accepted by the people, as when Mr. Anastasiades himself was in opposition, he was propagating and always speaking out in favour of full transparency. He must therefore act in a transparent manner so that people should know if what is said is true.
The second aspect is the most important. For some days now we have expressed our concern that at the same time as an important meeting is scheduled to take place in Berlin, the rhetoric being developed primarily on the part of Turkey, but by our own side as well, I regret to observe, conveys a strong negative tone. We must realize the enormous importance that exists to reach an agreement at the trilateral meeting and following that at the informal conference, with a view to resuming substantive negotiations. Woe if that doesn’t happen. In that case, it would mean sliding further towards permanent partition.
It is thus Mr. Anastasiades’ responsibility not to get carried away by Turkey’s delay tactics policy, but to act in a positive and constructive way ahead of the trilateral meeting with the aim of yielding results or, if that isn’t the case, that the clear responsibility for any failure should be apportioned on the Turkish side.
Mr. Talat’s statements exacerbate our concern even more about Mr. Anastasiades’ stance.
