The Energy issue can bring Turkey to the negotiating table

Statements by Vakis Charalambous, member of the Central Committee of AKEL, to “Haravgi” newspaper

Sunday 23 April 2023, “Haravgi” newspaper

Vakis Charalambous, a member of the Central Committee of AKEL, underlines that the European Union’s involvement in the efforts for the solution of the Cyprus problem is welcome, especially when it is based on positions of principles. Its role, as the EU itself points out, is supportive of the United Nations. It cannot and must not replace the UN in the efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem. For that reason, the President of the Republic’s proposal for the further involvement of the EU needs many clarifications as to its modalities and content. Otherwise it will remain just another slogan.

To break the longest stalemate we are currently experiencing on the Cyprus problem, substantial initiatives need to be assumed, not slogans. Initiatives are needed that will be able to create the preconditions for the resumption of the negotiations from the point at which they were interrupted at Crans Montana, while also preserving the convergences that have been recorded so far.

The fait accomplis are convenient for Turkey. The do not on the other hand suit us. What is needed is to make use of the space that can immediately release the momentum to bring Turkey back to the negotiating table. This area is the issue of energy, much more so than Euro-Turkish relations. The geopolitical facts against the background of the energy crisis could unleash incentives for a resumption of the negotiations.

AKEL has brought back to the fore the proposal it had submitted three years ago. The President of the Republic promised that it would be discussed, unlike his predecessor, who left it in the President’s drawer. Well, we’ll (soon) see whether that’s true!