There is no reason for us to comment on statements regarding the Cyprus problem, Government Spokesman Prodromos  Prodromou has told the Cyprus News  Agency (CNA), underlining that what would be constructive is the resumption of the negotiations from the point they were left off in Crans Montana last year, in the framework of the well-known and agreed UN process.

Prodromou was invited to comment on statements made on Wednesday by Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci, during a speech at Kokkina, where hundreds of Turkish Cypriots traveled from the Turkish occupied areas of the island to attend the 54th anniversary of the bombing of Tillyria by the Turkish air force in 1964.

The spokesman said that “given the clear position which the President of the Republic expressed during his meeting with the UNSG’s special envoy (Jane Holl Lute) about the resumption of the negotiation and while Mrs Lute’s mission is still underway, there is no reason for us to comment on remarks being made with regard to the solution” of the Cyprus problem.

“What would be constructive is the negotiations to begin where they were left off, in the framework of the well-known and agreed UN process,” he noted, adding that  negotiations for a solution should take place on the basis of the UN resolutions and decisions as well as the EU rules and principles, and given the ‘Guterres’ framework’, in its whole, including all of its six parameters.

Akinci called during his speech on the Greek Cypriot side “to accept the reality of the common and equal ownership of this island”.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory. Numerous UN-backed talks, aiming at reunifying the island under a federal roof, have failed to yield any results. The latest round of peace talks that took place at the Swiss resort of Crans Montana ended inconclusively in July 2017.