The two candidates of the ruling DISY party should at long last decide where they stand on the Cyprus problem

 

Statement by AKEL C.C. Spokesperson Giorgos Koukoumas:

17 October 2022, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia

The two candidates of the ruling DISY party must at long last decide what their positions are on the Cyprus problem and then state them with frankness to the Cypriot people.

• Does Mr. Christodoulides accept the Guterres Framework as the basis for a solution to the Cyprus problem – Yes or no?

For years Mr. Christodoulides was declaring his readiness to start negotiations on this basis. After the announcement of his presidential candidacy he stated that he considered this Guterres Framework outdated, while last week he all of a sudden declared that he accepts it. What will Mr. Christodoulides say to the United Nations and the international community and who will take him seriously? Or will he wait for the mechanism he proposes for solving the differences between the parties that support him to decide what he is seeking on the Cyprus problem?

• DISY President and presidential candidate Averof Neophytou declares that he accepts the Guterres Framework, but at the same time, he undermines it with his insistence on Cyprus’ accession to NATO, which – among other things – is obviously contrary to the security system envisaged by the UN Framework. Mr. Neophytou must come to a conclusion: either the Guterres Framework or NATO.

In other words, Christodoulides and Averof, as good disciples of Nicos Anastasiades, will continue the erratic tactics pursued by the outgoing President of the Republic. However, it is precisely these tactics they employed that have led the Greek Cypriot side to the ultimate point of being considered untrustworthy and Turkey to continue unhindered in the pursuit of its partitionist plans against Famagusta and our homeland.

This is precisely why we need a change in the governance of the country and in the handling of the Cyprus problem. This can only be achieved with the election of Andreas Mavroyiannis to the Presidency.