It is obvious that the next UN General Assembly and the meetings that Mr. Guterres will have with Mr. Anastasiades and Mr. Akinci will be important for what the Secretary-General of the UN will decide. Mr. Anastasiades, in his statements yesterday, attempts to predispose public opinion in a negative way, namely that no results will emerge from these meetings due to be held.

We say that it is the duty of Mr. Anastasiades to work for developments to evolve, for the resumption of the negotiations and substantive negotiations with a view to reaching an agreement within the agreed framework, and if not, then it should be clear that the responsibility will lie with the Turkish side. This is our demand from Mr. Anastasiades. It is not enough for him to say that he hopes there will be a result. Mr. Anastasiades must work. He is the one who has the command of these issues. He is the President of the Republic and he must understand that a great deal depends on him as to what the outcome will be and if Turkey or the Turkish side in general does not cooperate then it should be the one that bears the sole responsibility.

The second point I want to make is that it’s not enough to state now that preparation is needed. Well, what were we doing for 15 whole months? Why didn’t we try to form those preconditions that would have enabled us to prepare the ground so that we can enter into negotiations that will yield results.

The last thing I want to say is that Mr. Anastasiades is right that if we again go back to a new failure then many dangers will lie ahead. And if negotiations are not resumed, a great number of dangers also lie ahead however. I am very afraid that as long as the deadlock goes on, we will come closer to the final partition of the island with incalculable consequences for both Cyprus and the Cypriot people as a whole.

Statement by the General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL Andros Kyprianou

AKEL C.C. Press Office, 19 September 2018, Nicosia