Cyprus President, Nicos Anastasiades, has expressed his conviction that the time has come to end the years of tension and insecurity and has expressed his cautious optimism over the outcome of the UN brokered peace talks, noting that crucial parameters included in previous plans rejected by the people of Cyprus have been improved.
At the same time, he reiterated that if he does not believe a plan providing for the solution of the Cyprus problem meets the expectations of the people he will not accept for a referendum to take place.
President Anastasiades was addressing a memorial for fighters of the EOKA 1955 – 1959 liberation struggle against the British colonial rule, Ionas Nicolaou, Kyriakos Kolokasis and Kyriakos Kakoullis, in Geri, Nicosia.
“It is my conviction that the time has come to put an end to the years of tension and insecurity,” he said. The time has come, he added, “to join hands and lead our country to a course of peace, security, stability and prosperity, as I consider there is no other choice than to continue intensifying the effort so that we can get rid of the occupation and reunite our country as soon as possible.”
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied its northern third. Peace talks between Anastasiades and Akinci have been underway since May 2015, with a view to find a negotiated settlement that will reunite the country under a federal roof.
The two leaders are now in the middle of an intensified phase, comprising 8 meetings, from August 23 until September 14.
The negotiating process is at a “critical juncture,” he said, adding that if the next meetings with Mustafa Akinci deliver on our expectations and “we hope they will” then we will be able to speak with more certainty for a positive outcome of this long-term negotiating process.
He expressed his cautious optimism over the outcome so far, adding however that if the negotiations are not completed and all convergences and everything that needs to be agreed upon are not put down in paper, we will not be able to talk about a solution framework.
President Anastasiades further pointed out that what “we want to present to the Cypriot people is a comprehensive solution framework which will meet the concerns, expectations and hopes of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots and which will be able to be implemented from the fist day onward.”
He reiterated that it will be the “people, who will have the first and last word on the approval or rejection of any solution and not any leader.”
Referring to the ongoing process, he said that in the afternoon of September 14, before he departs for New York to take part in the UN General Assembly, and having already granted access to political parties to the minutes of his meetings with the Turkish Cypriot leader he will also brief political party leaders in detail on the outcome of all the meetings “as I have consistently done whenever there have been important developments.”
However, President Anastasiades added that “despite an agreement to avoid public statements, I can safely assure you that having taken into consideratin the will of the Cypriot people, we have improved significant and crucial parameters of plans that the Cypriot people have rejected in the past.”
President Anastasiades also noted that time works to the detriment of everyone and that conditions in the world and region are constantly changing.
“Everyone must comprehend, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, that conditions change, many times, uncontrollably,” he pointed out.
This is why, he warned, “as long as we live under the current status we are at risk of becoming the victims of the interests and balances of third countries.”
He further expressed his conviction that the solution of the Cyprus problem is the most mature demand of the Cypriot people in its whole.
At the same time he called once more for unity.
If there are different points of view or concerns, they are absolutely respected, he said, adding that no one should be allowed however to cultivate a climate of division or a climate which would lead in “Ankara getting what it wants instead of us achieving what we want.”