The President’s tactics facilitate Turkey in following a policy of delaying tactics

Statement by AKEL C.C. Spokesperson Stefanos Stefanou

AKEL C.C. Press Office, 21 April 2019, Nicosia

The President of the Republic either did not understand the basic messages that the UN Secretary-General sends to both sides in his latest Report or he is deliberately overlooking them. One can’t explain otherwise, even after the UN Secretary General’s Report, the fact that the President states he does not remain tied “to views expressed 45 years ago”.

Mr. President, what was indeed expressed 45 years ago is the agreement of the two sides for a solution of bi-zonal, bicommunal federation. The UN Secretary General in his Report recalls that the “Security Council, all these decades, supports a solution of bicommunal, bizonal federation that reflects the political equality of the two communities in Cyprus.”

You come back, Mr. President, yet again to the issue of “new ideas” in order to facilitate the procedure, as you claim. The UN Secretary-General is very clear on this issue too, Mr. President. He tells you: “In order to help the two sides…on 30th June 2017 (not on 4th July, Mr. President), I tabled a six-point framework with the goal of clarifying the differences that existed on key issues. I call on both sides to examine these issues in a constructive way.”

All the so-called “new ideas” you have tabled, Mr. President, nullify the UN Secretary General’s Framework. The convergences, which Mr. Gutierrez calls on both sides to safeguard, are also nullified by these “new ideas”. This tactic of yours, Mr. President, facilitate Turkey in following a policy of delaying tactics.

With the policy being pursued by Mr. Anastasiades, not only will the goal of resuming the negotiations from the point where they had remained and on the basis of the Guterres Framework not be achieved, but responsibilities will also be assigned on the Greek Cypriot side as well for the failure of the UN initiative, while Turkey will be implementing its goal of partition.