Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades called the Turkish Cypriots and the international community to understand that a settlement to the Cyprus problem which does not respect both communities and creates the conditions for the imposition of one community on the other, instead of mutual respect in peaceful conditions, will not last in time and it is not what the Greek Cypriot community seeks.
 
Addressing an event for the presentation of a book titled “Experiences – Cyprus 1974,” Anastasiades said he would later today speak over the phone with UN Secretary-General’s Envoy Jane Hall Lute, noting that he will convey to the UN official what he has been repeatedly stating to the UN Chief since the collapse of the UN-brokered talks in the Swiss resort of Crans Montana in the summer of 2017.
 
Noting that during the talks the Greek Cypriot side submitted written proposals on all six points presented by Antonio Guterres, Anastasiades said “unfortunately what was missing was not our political will, it was the other side which unfortunately failed to give any signs and particularly Turkey which wanted to have control not only over the occupied areas but over the whole of Cyprus.”
 
President Anastasiades reiterated that Cyprus is not in need of armies and any form of military contingents.
 
“We are a country in Europe. Human rights are absolutely respected. We don’t need guarantors because we have been suffering from them until today. It was the intervention of all three guarantors (Greece, Turkey and the UK) that gave us the suffering we experience daily,” he went on to say.
 
 Noting that his current term in office is his last one, Anastasiades said he wants to leave a legacy behind, which would be proportional of his long efforts both to the Cypriot political life and to his debt to the country.
 
“To leave while feeling that I gave my children and grandchildren the prospect of living and prospering in this country in conditions of peace,” he concluded.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded and occupied 37 per cent of its territory. UNSG`s special envoy Jane Hall Lute has been in contact with the parties in order to agree on the terms of reference that would facilitate the resumption of the UN-sponsored talks.