President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, expressed the readiness of the Greek Cypriot side to sit at the negotiating table and discuss with the aim to solve the Cyprus issue, assuring that the government will continue to take advantage of any opportunity to resume talks, since, as he said, “there is no other option”.
In statements on the sidelines of an event organised by the Democratic Party for the 20th anniversary of Cyprus’ accession to the EU, President Christodoulides said that he and the UNSG’s Personal Envoy, Maria Angela Holguin, have been in contact all these days, noting that on Monday they will meet again, hoping that through the meeting some positive information will emerge.
“What I can say with certainty is that from our side we will continue to take advantage of any opportunity there is, to resume talks. There is no other option for us”, the President said.
Referring to his meeting with Holguin last week, President Christodoulides said that on the same day he informed the
Greek Prime Minister, with whom he will speak again today, since he considers Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ trip to Ankara very important, especially, not only for Greek-Turkish issues, but also for the efforts being made for the Cyprus problem.
He expressed hope that something positive will emerge from the meeting between the Greek Prime Minister and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, especially in the ongoing effort to resume talks.
As President Christodoulides said, he conveyed some very specific ideas to Holguin, expressing hope that “there will be some result”.
Asked to comment on an interview by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, published in the Greek newspaper “Kathimerini”, in which he says that energy is not an area of conflict, but a field of cooperation, President Christodoulides clarified that the Republic of Cyprus cooperates with all states in the region and within this framework is ready to cooperate with Turkey as well after the solution of the Cyprus problem.
He added that “even before a possible s
olution to the Cyprus problem, we had conveyed our readiness to delineate our maritime boundaries always on the basis of the relevant Convention of the Law of the Sea,” adding that “it is Turkey that refuses dialogue. ”
“I repeat. The key issue is to resume talks. I said something the day before yesterday, I will repeat it. I also conveyed it to Mrs Holguin. I cannot see why anyone would not even want to discuss. When he doesn’t want to talk, it means he feels powerless about his own positions”, the President added.
He expressed the readiness of the Greek Cypriot side to discuss and sit at the negotiating table, underlining that “there is no other option”.
He also said that “the current state of affairs is not in the interest of either Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, Turkey, the EU, or the region,” adding that “we are ready to discuss and hopefully there will be a response”.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks hav
e so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres appointed Holguín in January as his personal envoy for Cyprus, to assume a Good Offices role on his behalf and search for common ground on the way forward in the Cyprus issue.
Source: Cyprus News Agency
