The resumption of negotiations is extremely difficult

Statements by the General Secretary of AKEL A.Kyprianou

8 February 2019, “Dialogos” portal

The General Secretary of AKEL Andros Kyprianou issued an appeal to the President of the Republic to take initiatives to put Turkey in the corner, either to cooperate on the Cyprus problem or to be exposed, noting that things currently are extremely difficult.

In his statements after the session of the National Council, Mr. Kyprianou said that things are still extremely difficult as regards the prospect for the resumption of meaningful negotiations and from the briefing received so far, it does not appear that negotiations will resume easily. Furthermore, commenting on the statements made by the President of the Ecologists’ Movement Yiorgos Perdikis, he wondered if he was present at the same session.

Mr. Kyprianou went on to say that since 1974, all political forces have clarified that the Cyprus problem will be solved only through negotiations, and so long as there are no negotiations ongoing, there is no prospect of a solution, something that should be clear in the minds of the Cypriot people as a whole.

He noted that in a prolonged stalemate growing disappointment spreads in society, a development that generates a domino effect, strengthening those forces and circles that don’t want the solution and reunification of the Republic of Cyprus, especially in Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot community, and giving room for new dangerous ideas and thoughts being submitted, such as two states and confederation.

Mr. Kyprianou stated that you can be led to partition in two ways, either by discussing partition at the negotiating table or by letting things evolve on their own in a protracted stalemate, sliding towards a final partition. For that reason, he issued an appeal to everyone to become aware of their responsibility towards the country and people, noting that this does not mean that the Greek Cypriot side should retreat from positions of principle which have been set out by the National Council over time.

The General Secretary of AKEL stressed that we should take initiatives to put the Turkish side in a corner that will either be obliged to initially cooperate for a resumption of negotiations and subsequently reach an agreement within the agreed framework, or be exposed in the eyes of the international community. “Unfortunately, so far, we have not achieved neither one nor the other, and our appeal to Mr. Anastasiades is precisely that he should take the necessary initiatives to move in the correct direction,” he pointed out.

Asked about his disagreement with Ecology Party leader Yiorgos Perdikis, Mr. Kyprianou said he disagreed with the position expressed by the President of the Ecologists that Mr. Akinci is moving away from the convergences that had been agreed. “With such approaches that are attempting to portray our attitude in a positive light we aren’t going anywhere. We have a framework that has been agreed. If an attempt is made to abandon the Framework either towards two states, confederation or towards a unitary state, we will inevitably be going towards two states, to partition”, he said, adding that we cannot be talking about federation and demand that it must include provisions characteristic of a unitary state given that this cannot be accepted by anybody.

Asked about the issue of political equality that the Turkish side has recently been raising, Mr. Kyprianou said that this has been agreed since 1992 and was included in the Report of the then UN Secretary General Boutros Ghali. AKEL, he said, had accepted it from the outset and subsequently political equality was accepted by the rest of the political parties.

The problem, the General Secretary of AKEL added, is in how the Turkish Cypriot side interprets the term “political equality” and given the position of the UN Secretary General that one positive Turkish Cypriot vote on all issues cannot be demanded on all issues, but only with regards the issues that serve its essential interests and that there should be mechanisms to resolve the deadlocks, the Greek Cypriot side has every opportunity to discuss fortified behind the Secretary General’s correct position so as to insist on the correct interpretation of the term political equality. “If however on the other hand we believe that political equality means that we (the Greek Cypriots) decide and the Turkish Cypriots won’t have any say on the important issues we are out of touch with reality,” he concluded.