President of the Republic Nicos Anastasiades has urged everybody not to confuse the constructive proposals submitted by the UNSG during the latest round of negotiations on Cyprus with Turkey’s proposals which were exactly the opposite.
Answering questions before an award ceremony in Nicosia, the President also said there was no point in rekindling the work of the ad hoc Committee to harmonize Turkish Cypriots with the acquis communautaire since no negotiations are being held.
Asked if the government is aware of efforts in Brussels to restart this committee, the President said that since no negotiations are under way at the moment, there is no justification for the committee to be active.
Replying to another question, the President said he has not read a report in a Sunday newspaper which said it had obtained information from various circles, including the leader of the main left wing opposition AKEL party on what happened during the Crans Montana negotiations in June and early July.
Anastasiades wondered how the information had been obtained by the newspaper.
The report in Sunday’s edition of “Politis” newspaper cited the General Secretary of AKEL as saying that during the dinner of 6th July at Crans Montana, the SG was upset with the President of the Republic.
“Not even once the SG (of the UN) was angry with me. I always acted within the diplomatic norms and maintained a principled stance on issues that were of vital significance for the people of Cyprus”, the President stressed.
Asked if during his meeting with Antonio Guterres the latter conveyed the position that Turkey was ready to show flexibility, the President replied: “No, he did not because the agreement was not between myself and the SG but between the Republic of Cyprus, the guarantor powers and mainly Turkey”.
Therefore, he added, “it is not a matter of what the SG was proposing to the Turkish side. What is important is the stance maintained by Turkey”. For instance, he said, the SG referred to a number of Turkish soldiers that could be agreed, 650 to be exact, to remain on the island after a settlement, according to the Treaty of Alliance. However, Turkey demanded that this number reaches 1800.
“The good intentions of the SG are one thing, the real intentions of Turkey are another”, the President remarked.
Asked if the problem was to replace the Treaty of Guarantees and the Treaty of Alliance with a new treaty of implementation of a solution by the UN, President Anastasiades replied “no”.
He explained that the proposal was to replace them with another credible system, bearing in mind Cyprus’ status as an international member of the UN, the EU and other organisations.
Anastasiades said Turkey wanted the renaming of the two 1960 treaties (which established the Republic of Cyprus) with implementation treaties granting it a one-sided right to intervene.
“It is one thing what the SG was proposing and promoting and another what Turkey was ready to accept. End of story. Let us not confuse the constructive proposals of the SG with the completely contrary positions of Turkey”, he concluded.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. The latest round of UN-peace talks ended inconclusively on July 7 and all parties involved are in a period of recollection. Talks held under the auspices of the UN aim at reuniting Cyprus under a federal roof.