The US think – tank `Atlantic Council` is organising on Wednesday in Washington an event entitled “Strategic & Sustainable Development for a Unified Cyprus”.
According to the Atlantic Council, the event, “hosted in partnership with the Atlantic Council, Concordia, and One Cyprus Now on the margins of the US Department of State’s Global Partnerships Week (GPW), will explore how new models of development and public-public partnerships can be catalytic for the island’s economy and future more broadly”.
Speakers include among others, Jonathan R. Cohen, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Cyprus, Greece, and Turkey, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs US Department of State, Espen Barth Eide, Special Adviser of the Secretary General on Cyprus United Nations, Ambassador Andreas Mavroyiannis, Negotiator of the Greek Cypriot Community at the Cyprus talks. Victoria Nuland, Former Assistant Secretary, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs US Department of State will address the event.
The Atlantic Council notes in its press release, that “amid a climate of cautious optimism for a Cyprus settlement, the island’s social, environmental, and economic development must be raised as key priorities. Cyprus could become Europe’s fastest-growing economy due to its strategic commercial, demographic, and geographic position”.
It adds that “the country, however, must capitalize on these assets by promoting good governance and encouraging private sector investment for future growth. Collaboration across sectors and industries will be vital to stimulate sustainable economic development, support national security, and foster regional stability”.
The Republic of Cyprus, an EU member since 2004, has been divided since the 1974 Turkish invasion which resulted in thousands of refugees, hundreds of missing persons, dead and wounded. UN – led talks between the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot communities resumed in May 2015 with a view to reunite the island under a federal roof. The talks were interrupted in mid February by the Turkish Cypriot side, which demands that a decision passed by the Cypriot Parliament relating to a 1950 referendum on union with Greece is revoked, claiming this indicates a shift in Greek Cypriot goal of a federal solution. The amendment notes that there will be a very brief reference to the referendum at schools.
Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades has described the House decision as wrong and called on the leader of the Turkish Cypriot side, Mustafa Akinci, who walked out of the talks, to return to the negotiating table to discuss pending issues with a view to reaching a mutually acceptable agreement to reunite the country.
