A road map submitted by the Turkish Cypriot leader relating to the negotiations for a comprehensive settlement to the Cyprus problem is in fact countered by the joint declaration which Dervis Eroglu and President Nicos Anastasiades agreed on in Februry last year, Government Spokesman Nikos Christodoulides has told CNA.
Invited to comment on Eroglu’s statements that he has submitted a road map to the UN, Christodoulides said that “the way the negotiations will proceed depends entirely on whether there is good will from both sides and on the proposals they will submit at the negotiating table in the third round of the talks.”
He said Eroglu`s proposal had been submitted in the past. “What is important is that this proposal is rejected by the joint declaration itself” of the 11th February 2014.
In the declaration, the leaders of the island’s two communities “expressed their determination to resume structured negotiations in a results-oriented manner”. They also agreed that a “settlement will be based on a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation with political equality, as set out in the relevant Security Council Resolutions and the High Level Agreements” and that “the negotiations are based on the principle that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed”.
President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades, suspended his participation in the peace talks last October, following a Navigational Telex or NAVTEX, issued by Turkey as Turkish seismic research vessel “Barbaros” violated the Republic’s Exclusive Economic Zone. The Turkish NAVTEX expired on Monday and Barbaros has left Cyprus` EEZ. All indications are that peace talks are set to resume in May.
Referring to Monday`s meeting the President had with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, the Spokesman said that “the political will of both countries is to reinforce bilateral cooperation.”
“This is the important message of the meeting. There is already political will from both sides to strengthen cooperation as much as possible” and in a wide range of issues, he added.
After the Israeli government is formed, he added, it will be decided when the President will visit Israel and “how we proceed from there”.
Cyprus has been divided since Turkish troops invaded in 1974. Repeated UN-backed rounds of negotiations have yet to yield results, which would lead to a reunited country.