Federation is by definition not divisive, but it could effectively address divisive issues that existed in the Cyprus state even in 1960 Greek Cypriot negotiator Menelaos Menelaou said Thursday in a lecture event under Salamis Free University organized by the University of Cyprus and the Constantia Bishopric.
A press release says that Menelaou noted that over the years, the Cyprus issue was preserved by a part of the international community as a problem for which the need to achieve a solution, in accordance with international law, was outweighed by other overriding interests, more specifically by the strategic importance of Turkey.
He stated that from this perspective, our expectation to exert pressure on Turkey, so that it would be obliged to comply with international law, did not succeed.
Menelaou underlined that how things will ultimately develop does not depend only on us and noted that it is important to always keep in mind the big picture, to place and interpret things, including Turkey’s policy, within the broader local, regional and international context.
He also stated that developments in our neighborhood and elsewhere clearly underline that there are no frozen conflicts and that unresolved problems are wounds that fester and lead to new, even more painful suffering.
He noted that in order for our homeland to continue to exist, we must exhaust every possibility to the extent that depends on us to reach a solution.
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. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.