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President takes steps for a meeting with the UNSG in September

29/08/2022 10:49

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades is taking steps for a meeting with the Secretary General of the United Nations in September in New York, as he told  journalists on Sunday.

"There are already steps being taken for a meeting with the Secretary General, and of course the purpose of the meeting is only to convey the need to implement what is agreed upon by the Secretary General", he said when asked if in New York he will try for a return to the dialogue table for the last time.

He added that there were no news from Miroslav Jenca, the UN Assistant Secretary-General in Cyprus. "As long as Turkey objects, unfortunately there is a retreat from the decisions of the United Nations, and that makes me particularly sad", he said.

Regarding the latest finding in the Cypriot EEZ, the President said that "the Republic of Cyprus, despite the threats of Turkey, despite what is recorded with the violations of our Exclusive Economic Zone, continues to implement its energy program".

He added that ENI continues drilling in a target adjacent to the recent finding, in the presence of an Italian navy vessel.

"As planned, both Total and Qatar Petroleum will proceed with research, they are already conducting seismic research", he said.

He added that what's left was to include Cyprus in the EU planning to wean itself off Russian gas.

Asked if the exploitation of the deposits could be accelerated, President Anastasiades replied that "it is not a matter that can be determined by the Republic of Cyprus, it is a matter for the companies which will invest, depending on the findings. It might take some time".

In his speech at a memorial service, President Anastasiades, said that Turkey, while filing its proposals on April 25, 2021 before the UNSG, was officially claiming the solution on the basis of two states, raising the request officially for the first time for the partition of Cyprus.

He noted that "we have not accepted (the solution of two states), we are not going to succumb and we must not succumb. And it is upon us not to give the opportunity to some to support anything similar". He explained that accepting a similar solution means at the same time opening the "Pandora box", because many European and other states will face similar challenges and problems.

President Anastasiades assured that "the highest priority throughout my political career... is the solution of the Cyprus problem in a peaceful way and the end of the unacceptable status quo. This desire to find a peaceful solution has always been based on the principles and values of international law, the EU, the UN resolutions that expressed the will of the vast majority of states for justice to prevail in Cyprus, for the occupation troops to withdraw, to end the anachronistic system of guarantees".

The aim, he continued, "was to safeguard and protect our Turkish Cypriot compatriots, without, however, ignoring the risks for the Greek Cypriots through the claims put forward by Turkey. We have exhausted all room for flexibility", he said.

In his speech, the President also referred to the change of the demographic character of the island attempted by Turkey. He also referred to the request for political equality, saying that "in the name of political equality they (the Turkish Cypriots) claimed to always have a positive vote for any decision taken by the central state". He added that what was called political equality was nothing but political inequality because, the non-majority community would in fact rule the majority. "We had suggested that we are ready to accept the positive vote when and where the possible proposal for a decision might negatively affect the interests of the Turkish Cypriot community," he added.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.