The Cyprus issue is on thin ice due to the Turkish unyielding stance, said Speaker of the House of Representatives Yiannakis Omirou, who stressed that Cypriots should not surrender to the pressure of the economic crisis.
Omirou informed students of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens on the Cyprus problem and the economic crisis, expressing deep regret that the European Union did not show solidarity towards Cyprus at a time of deep economic decline.
He said there are responsibilities for the situation in Cyprus, just as in Greece, and these should be allocated. The measures which Troika imposed on Cyprus, he added, are far-reaching, do not offer development and are not in line with EU principles.
Troika, he added, is acting like a colonial tool demanding from its lenders callous measures that lead to unemployment, misery and social exclusion. The more Troika’s measures are being achieved, the more people are unemployed, end up living under the poverty line and throng social markets.
Regarding the findings of hydrocarbon reserves in Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone, Omirou criticized Turkey’s stance which violates, he said, international rules over the law of the Seas and it is threatening the Republic of Cyprus for exercising its own sovereign rights in its own EEZ.
Omirou said that negotiations for a Cyprus settlement always end up in deadlock due to Ankara’s insistence for a lose confederation, with permanent deviations from the acqui communautaire and perpetuating the presence of Turkey as guarantor power.
The House Speaker said that now the talks for a Cyprus settlement resumed and it is of critical significance to support the fundamental principles of a single citizenship, single identity and a single international personality.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded and occupied the island’s northern third.
UN-backed talks resumed in February this year, following an agreed Joint Declaration between the leaders of the two communities, namely President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu. The leaders are scheduled to meet end of March while the negotiators of the two sides meet on a regular basis.
