Responsible decisions and initiatives have allowed Cyprus to be at the same table with Turkey for “the first time in 43 years,” President Nicos Anastasiades said on Tuesday night, about the conference on Cyprus.
He added: “We are at the same table with Turkey and discussing for the first time the abolishment of guarantees and our liberation from the occupying army.”
The President said that no one should be concerned about Cyprus abandoning its core values.
Regarding criticism from political parties, President Anastasiades said “during these critical times,” there needs to be unity to “free our country from the occupation, reunite it, create the conditions for peaceful coexistence with our compatriots, and finally live with that this country will have prospects and a future.
“Some say – and I want to comment on this without criticism – that the Republic of Cyprus is in danger. The Republic of Cyprus is not in danger, aside from occupation, and not through its participation in the dialogue, not through its participation in international organisations dealing and related to the settlement of the Cyprus problem,” he said.
He added that the role of the President is not undermined, when “he represents his country and the Greek Cypriot community.”
In the meantime, a new round of the Conference on Cyprus has begun at a specialist level in Mont Pelerin, Switzerland, to discuss the security and guarantees chapter of the Cyprus issue.
Asked to comment on the specialist discussion between the three guarantor powers (Greece, Turkey, and the UK) and the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot sides, government spokesperson Nikos Christodoulides said on Wednesday that discussions would begin at 12:30pm (Cyprus time), and that bilateral meetings were held by the Republic’s team and the British and Greek representation.
“We are in full coordination with the Greek government on the process as well as issues of substance,” Christodoulides said.
He added that discussions are expected to give answers to specific questions that generally deal with the security and guarantees chapter, so that a “working paper” can be developed to allow the discussions at a political level to have prospects for a result.
Christodoulides said that discussions are expected to end on Friday and that the government will make a statement following the specialist level meetings.
TURKISH CRITICISM
Asked to comment on statements from the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot side, Christodoulides said that many statements are being made, but that now “we are at the negotiating table and seriousness must characterise all of us.”
He added that the process is not dependent on the statements being made.
“Surely, statements have their own symbolism, can help and create issues in the dialogue,” he said.
However, the government spokesperson said that statements will not drive the result, “but rather that we are now at the same table, across from the Turkish representatives, to discuss. And the results of that discussion will largely indicate how the process can continue.”
FRIDAY
Asked if Friday’s results will determine the future of the process, Christodoulides said: “Not necessarily, because a discussion on a technical level cannot determine the entirety of the process. It is an important discussion, as it is a working group meeting after it was recommended by the UN Secretary General, and it has its importance, and role, but the important decisions will be made on a political level.”
Regarding whether or not the political level meeting would be dependent on the results of specialist meetings, Christodoulides said that the goal is to hold the conference on a political level.
He added that the results of the specialist level meetings will judge “how close we are, at the end of the day.”
However, he said that the technical teams cannot make decisions on the future of the process of the substance of the discussion. “This will be done at a political level,” he said.
Asked about discussions to continue in Cyprus, Christodoulides said that the goal is to complete the process in Switzerland and then to continue the rest of the discussion on the other chapters of the Cyprus issue on the island.
Representatives of Greece, Turkey, and the UK are meeting in Mont Pelerin alongside Greek Cypriot negotiator Andreas Mavroyiannis and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart Ozdil Nami to discuss the security and guarantees issue.
The EU is also present at the discussions as an observer.
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