Turkey’s demand for granting 26,000 new “citizenships” to settlers will create serious complications in the negotiation procedure
Statement of Toumazos Tsielepis, AKEL Political Bureau member and Head of the Bureau on the Cyprus Problem of the C.C.
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 19th April 2016, Nicosia
On the occasion of the statement issued by the leader of the Turkish Cypriot “United Cyprus” (BKP) party Izzet Izcan that Turkey’s demand for the granting of 26,000 new “citizenships” as a precondition for signing the economic protocol threatens to destroy the procedure of the negotiations on the Cyprus problem, AKEL wishes to clarify its position on the issue.
We insist firmly on the Christofias-Talat convergence that the population ratio at the time of the solution must be 4: 1, and that the same ratio will be observed regarding the future flow of Greek and Turkish citizens. Although the specific convergence was demonized back then more than any other, it was eventually reaffirmed by Anastasiades and Akinci.
Turkey must know that any potential new “naturalizations” and indeed on such a mass scale are diametrically opposed to the aforementioned convergence and will create serious complications in the negotiation procedure. Under no circumstances will AKEL agree to a violation of the agreed population ratio, nor do we accept that those settlers who have acquired or will acquire the so-called “citizenship” will remain on the island. Furthermore, our position is fully in line with the recorded convergence that the issue of citizenship will be regulated in the comprehensive solution of the Cyprus problem and therefore previous relevant actions will not be in force.
