Every step we take, both within the country and on the international stage, is focused on reinforcing all aspects of our country’s strength and advancing our efforts to end the Turkish occupation and achieve the reunification of Cyprus, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Tuesday.
The statement was made after the student parade for March 25th, Greece’s national anniversary. Cyprus honours the start of the 1821 Greek liberation struggle against the Ottoman Turks, with church services and student parades across the country. The parade was held in front of the Greek Embassy in Nicosia. The President was flanked by the President of the House, the Ambassador of Greece, and other officials.
Speaking to reporters, President Christodoulides said that in his meeting on April 2nd with Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, he is ready to discuss all the issues agreed upon in Geneva. Since the conclusion of the Geneva meeting, preparations have been made, and “we are ready, which is why we took the initiative to hold this meeting immediately.”
Regarding today’s anniversary and its significance, President Christodoulides extended his wishes to “all Greeks worldwide,” emphasising that “beyond the excellent parade and the events organized for this significant day for Hellenism and globally,” it is crucial to understand “the true meaning of the Greek Revolution of 1821.”
The message, he said, is very simple, “when this great effort began, very few believed it would lead to a positive outcome, the establishment of the Greek state”. He added that from this, “we draw our strength to continue our effort, more than half a century later, to do everything possible to liberate and reunite our homeland.”
President Christodoulides expressed his satisfaction that “a first significant step was recently taken in Geneva, which we will utilise to lead to the resumption of substantive talks.”
Asked if the appointment of a personal envoy is imminent, President Christodoulides said, “we are waiting for the UN Secretary-General’s announcements.”
He reminded journalists that “on our initiative, immediately after returning from Brussels, a meeting (to be held between the two leaders) was scheduled for April 2nd. This is not a ceremonial meeting—we are going to achieve results based on what was agreed with the UN Secretary-General. We are fully prepared, and I repeat, every action we take, both domestically and internationally, aims to strengthen all the factors of power of our country, further reinforcing our effort to end the occupation and reunify our homeland.”
When asked whether developments in Turkey could impact the Cyprus issue, the President said, “certainly, developments in Turkey are a cause for concern, particularly at the European level.”
He noted that an initial discussion has taken place at a technocrats level and expressed confidence that “the discussion will continue at a political level. We are closely monitoring all these developments. Undoubtedly, they are not positive developments, and I will not attempt to sugarcoat a situation that cannot be sugarcoated. From our side, we are monitoring all developments, both domestic and international, and, assessing the data, we continue our approach and strategy, which has a very specific and clear goal.”
When asked if his upcoming meeting with Tatar on April 2 will include discussions on issues related to the July conference, the President said, “I am ready to discuss all these matters that we agreed upon in Geneva. Both sides and other attendees have made commitments to the UN Secretary-General. Since the conference concluded, we have done our preparations and are ready. That is why we took the initiative to hold this meeting immediately.”
When asked if the issue of checkpoints will be on the agenda in the meeting with Tatar, he said it is “one of the six topics announced by the UN Secretary-General and will certainly be one of the issues discussed”.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results due to Turkish intransigence. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.
UN Secretary General announced that an informal meeting on Cyprus in a broader format will be held at the end of July, following a similar meeting in Geneva, on March 17-18. Antonio Guterres also announced that he will appoint a new personal envoy on Cyprus to prepare the next steps, while the two sides agreed to proceed with a number of initiatives, involving the opening of crossing points, the creation of a Technical Committee on Youth and other initiatives in the buffer zone and throughout the island.