The General Secretary of AKEL expressed his regret for the statements made by the illegal regime’s “prime minister” ‘Ersin Tatar regarding the opening of the checkpoints, characterizing as unacceptable his position. In his statements made on a Party delegation visit to the district of Paphos, A. Kyprianou said that Mr. Tatar is hiding behind the fact that there is a very small number of coronavirus cases in the Greek Cypriot community to insist on not opening the checkpoints.

The tests, he continued, conducted in the Greek Cypriot exceed 2,000 per day, while those conducted in the Turkish Cypriot community are far less. He also stated his Party’s firm position that the checkpoints must be opened, but with the necessary health checks.

The General Secretary of AKEL described Mr. Tatar’s approach as “unacceptable” and said he hoped the pressure from the Turkish Cypriot community would force him to look at the issue differently. He also expressed the hope that the government of the Republic of Cyprus would take such initiatives, so that the pressure on Mr. Tatar is increased so that he is forced to co-operate on the issue of opening the checkpoints.

Answering a question as to whether we are a long way off from a possible resumption of talks on the Cyprus problem, the General Secretary of AKEL also stated that there is no possibility of resuming negotiations by October. It will depend on who will be the new leader of the Turkish Cypriot community, he said, and what possibilities there will be for the resumption of substantive negotiations.

At the same time, the General Secretary of AKEL continued, our side has an obligation to prepare the climate and society explaining the need to solve the Cyprus problem on the basis of the agreed framework and to take such initiatives, so that whoever the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community might be he will suffer consequences if he does not cooperate for the resumption of substantive negotiations.