Under the title “The last chance for federation”, Turkish Cypriot daily Havadis newspaper (04.03.16) reports that the Turkish Cypriot leader, Mustafa Akinci has argued that if the Cyprus problem is not solved in the current negotiating process, “this will not only be the last experiment of our generation, but it could be assessed as the last experiment for the federal system”.
In a joint interview with reporters of Havadis and Phileleftheros / Cyprus Weekly newspapers, Akinci said that the negotiations for establishing a federation have lasted for a long time and added that with President Anastasiades they share the view that if they could not find a federal solution, the next generations “will put the emphasis on other solution models”. Akinci said that a solution in 2016 is possible and added that President Anastasiades also shares this view.
Noting that a will for a solution is now existing at the table, Akinci reiterated his belief that “we do not need years for finding a solution in Cyprus”.
Arguing that we are passing through a sensitive period now because of the parliamentary elections to be held in May in the government-controlled area of the Republic of Cyprus, Akinci said that after May “speedy developments are possible”. “Until then we will try to achieve more progress on the four chapters on which we made progress until now”, he said, adding that progress has been achieved on the chapters of Governance and Power Sharing, the EU, Economy and Property. He noted that in the above chapters there are also issues that remain open and they will try to reduce their number as much as possible.
Asked what is expected in the next stage, Akinci replied: “I am suggesting the discussion of the Territory and the Security/ Guarantees in a different format where the map, the percentages and the names of the places will be discussed. No concrete decision has been taken yet on these issues. However, on the territory issue we do not want a situation like now to go, talk, to come back, to go back in ten days, and meanwhile these issues to become front-page news in the papers. […] We want to discuss the territory in a continuous process. And right after the territory we want to complete the Security and the Guarantees with the participation of the guarantors”.
Replying to a question on the confidence building measures, Akinci argued that the Turkish Cypriot side has done whatever it promised, but the Greek Cypriot side says that a law is an obstacle on the connection of the cell phones networks. He argued that if the obstacle was in the “laws” of the breakaway regime he would meet with the parties and overcome the problem.
Asked about the other factors which make the solution possible, Akinci said that the most important issue is energy and reiterated the view that the energy resources in the Eastern Mediterranean will either be turned into a field of cooperation or into a means of conflict. He argued that the most “simple, quick and cheap” route for transferring energy from Israel through Cyprus to Europe is Turkey.
Referring to the water which was transferred from Turkey to the occupied area of the island, Akinci said: “Water came from Turkey here. This water came with a new technology. This is an important project. Currently 75 million cubic meters will come. In the future, when Cyprus is united, it is possible to create the capacity for the whole of Cyprus to benefit with this technology.Therefore, this is a factor as well, the electricity-water-natural gas and the mutual dependence which they will create, the dependence in a positive direction. It is a dependence which will create possibilities for cooperation. And the last factor is the following: The international community is really supporting this solution. Turkey, Greece, the UN and the EU need such an example. […]”
