There is no new US policy on the Cyprus issue, American Ambassador to Nicosia John Koenig has said.
Addressing an event organised by the Larnaca Rotary Club, recently, Koenig reiterated that the US continues “to support the formation of a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation to be negotiated by the leaders of the two communities under the auspices of the United Nations Good Offices Mission that reports to the UN Secretary General”.
He pointed out that “it would be wrong to suggest that the United States is taking over the process”. The United Nations oversees this process, he said, and the two communities do the hard work of negotiation.
“This has not changed. It probably won’t change, and it doesn’t need to change”, he noted.
Koenig said that “it has also been American policy to offer our assistance to the UN and the Cypriot parties in this process in any way that would be useful, especially as deemed by the parties, and agreed upon by the leaders of the two communities”.
“We are prepared to continue to support initiatives that the two leaders agree would provide a boost to the comprehensive settlement process”, he added.
Ideas, he said, “to revive the Famagusta area, including the port, the fenced area of Varosha, and the walled city, and other key elements in the Famagusta region; there are a variety of opportunities and sources of cooperation that could encourage the two sides to build on these initiatives”.
At the same time he assured that the US “has no grand scheme with respect to Cyprus or the region”.
“We have long supported a solution to the Cyprus Problem to help bring more stability to this region and to end the conflict between the two communities, and to bring back unity to Cyprus”, he explained.
Koenig continued to say that “we understand that no solution that is perceived as being imposed from the outside will win the support of people in a referendum”. He assured that there is no “Obama Plan” or “Kerry Plan” or “American Plan” to solve the Cyprus problem.
This, he said, “will be the product of negotiations between the two Cypriot communities, and we want very much to support that process”.
What is different, he noted, “is the level of interest in Washington, and how American engagement is perceived by the Cypriot parties and other stakeholders, including Turkey; very importantly Turkey”.
He further recalled that “we have called upon all actors in the region not to engage in acts that are provocative with regard to the exploration and exploitation of these resources”. This, he added, “should be a focus for more cooperation in the region, not a source of confrontation”.
Direct talks between the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot communities resumed in mid February, following an agreement on a Joint Declaration by the leaders of the two communities. The objective is to reunite Cyprus, divided since the 1974 Turkish invasion, under a federal roof.
