Statement by the General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL S.Stefanou after the meeting with the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary General on Cyprus María Angela Holguín Cuéllar
AKEL briefed María Angela Holguín Cuéllar on its position on how the current situation on the Cyprus problem should be addressed
12 March 2024, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia
“We had a very interesting, in-depth and fruitful meeting with the Personal Envoy of the Secretary General of the UN, María Angela Holguín Cuéllar.
We of course discussed the Cyprus problem, the current situation and the prolonged deadlock that has existed since 2017. We talked about the need to break the deadlock and resume the negotiations.
We informed Mrs. Holguín about AKEL’s positions on how we should tackle the current situation, positions which are well known.
I shall repeat them in public too. Our position focuses on 4 aspects:
1. We must all remain consistent to the agreed basis for a solution, which is Bi-zonal, Bicommunal Federation with political equality as set out by the United Nations. This is necessary given that Turkey and the Turkish side are trying to abolish this agreed basis for a solution and suggesting that we should move towards the logics of a two state solution. Logics which are rejected and cannot be accepted.
2. We have stressed the need and explained why we need to continue from the point where the negotiations were interrupted in 2017, preserving the convergences that have been recorded so far and the need to negotiate on the Guterres Framework. A lot of work has been done and this work that has been done for decades is expressed in the convergences registered. There is a lot of work that should also be built upon on the Guterres Framework as well.
3. We need to formulate a positive agenda towards Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot side, creating incentives for the Turkish side to be persuaded to come back to the negotiating table. These incentives certainly do not go beyond our “red lines”, nor do they create disincentives for Turkey. It is well known that we have submitted since December 2020 a specific and comprehensive proposal on how we can formulate this positive agenda, focusing on energy issues.
4. The need for the Republic of Cyprus, unilaterally, to take measures for the benefit of the Turkish Cypriot community, in order to convince them that we are interested, we have the political will to solve the Cyprus problem and together, within the framework of the reunited state, to co-manage the fate of our country.
So these are precisely the issues that we have discussed with Mrs. Holguín.
We will continue to be in contact both with the United Nations and with all the major players on the Cyprus problem”.