I am particularly pleased to join
you today.
First of all I would like sincerely
thank you for your long standing support and show of solidarity to Cyprus and
to our quest for a just and viable solution to the Cyprus problem based on the
International law and the European norms and principles.
You are indeed true friends of
Cyprus and its people. Your assistance is considered as most valuable in
projecting the correct parameters of the Cyprus issue.
Within this context, I
would like to stress that all those years that I have been actively involved in
politics I have sincerely proven my determination and vision in reaching a
viable and lasting settlement that will address
the concerns of both communities and of all Cypriots.
Particularly now, as the
elected leader of my country, I am obliged more than ever before to do my utmost in order to end the division of my
country and unite its people.
In this respect, from
the very beginning of assuming the presidency, and despite the consequences of
the Eurogroup decision and the pressing economic situation in the country, I
immediately started preparing for the resumption
of the negotiations.
To this end, a negotiator representing the Greek Cypriot
community was immediately appointed. A
highly-experienced career diplomat, whose sole mission is to engage in
constructive and fully-fledged negotiations with his counterpart from the
Turkish Cypriot community, including holding meetings with other key
stakeholders involved.
At the same time, I undertook the initiative to put forward a number of
constructive proposals in order for a dynamic impetus to be injected to the
negotiating process, which on the one hand would restore the hope and
confidence of the people of Cyprus to the prospect of reaching a settlement and
on the other hand would provide major economic benefits to both Communities.
These proposals
are the following:
- Direct meetings between the negotiator of the Greek Cypriot Community and officials from Turkey;
- Adoption of bold Confidence Building Measures which are considered as ‘game changers’;
- Upgrading the role of the EU in the negotiating process;
- The adoption of a Joint Declaration by the leaders of the two communities.
Unfortunately, and despite our wish,
these proposals have yet to materialize. Due to time-constraints I will not
thoroughly elaborate on the reasoning of these proposals, but I will hand over
a relevant non-paper.
However, I would like to concentrate
on the negotiations for the adoption of a Joint Statement, as it is directly
linked with the current state of affairs.
For more than four months now, the
two sides have been negotiating a joint declaration to be adopted on the
occasion of restarting fully fledged negotiations.
I myself have gone far in trying to
create those conditions that would allow us to embark on an effective and
fruitful process, eliminating the flaws of past efforts and the frustrating
repetition of infructuous rounds of endless talks. From the outset, my
conviction was that having such a declaration is imperative mainly for three
reasons:
(a)
To avoid any time-wasting misinterpretations during the negotiating process on
what has already been defined by a series of Agreements and UN resolutions as
the negotiating framework, and, consequently, the basis for the solution of the
Cyprus problem;
(b)
To adopt a new approach in the methodology of the negotiations that would not
isolate the different chapters of the Cyprus problem which should be discussed
interdependently: it is characteristic that during the previous process not a
single agreement was reached on any of the core issues of the Cyprus problem;
(c)
To lay a strong foundation for rapid progress towards a
comprehensive settlement.
In this regard, I wish to emphasize
that all the proposals that I have submitted are strictly in line with the
basis of reaching a solution defined by a series of High-Level Agreements
between the leaders of the two communities and the relevant UNSC resolutions on
the Cyprus problem.
Although throughout the negotiations
for the adoption of a Joint Statement I have showed good will and have adopted
a constructive stance to meet concerns of the Turkish Cypriot side (for
example, accepting the notions of “internal citizenship” and “constituent
states” and that residual powers will be allocated by the constitution to the
constituent states), regretfully, I have been faced with a constant effort to
erode the basis of the settlement to be reached, the projection of the notion
of separate sovereign states and public statements for a two-state solution.
If the process is to stand any
chance of success, it must start with a basic common understanding of where we
want to go and how we can best get there. Hence, there should be no space for
ambiguity or “creative thinking” around the notion of sovereignty, consolidated
both in international and constitutional law and in numerous Security Council
Resolutions. After all, sovereignty has been even most recently reaffirmed in
2010 by the then leaders of the two communities as “single and indivisible” and
it is also included in the reference document of 2008-2012, prepared by the
United Nations good offices team.
Any deviation from the above would
jeopardize the future of the people of Cyprus, the prospect of a viable and
durable settlement, the absolute priority of restoring the human rights and
fundamental freedoms of all Cypriots and their longing to live in a normal and
prosperous European country. This is what the basis of the settlement is meant
to secure.
However, it is with deep regret that
I was informed on 27 December 2013 that the Turkish Cypriot side has rejected
our most recent draft of the joint declaration submitted on 18 December 2013,
the provisions of which benefit jointly Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots and
in no case favour the one community vis-a-vis the other.
In fact, our only two added
suggestions were: (a) “Union in whole or in part with any other country or any
form of partition or secession is excluded” and (b) “Any dispute as
regards federal laws’ or constituent states’ laws will be adjudicated finally
by the Federal Supreme Court”. And I have to stress that these two proposals
had been incorporated in all previous proposals or plans for the Cyprus
problem.
Further, the submission of the
rejected draft of 18 December 2013 was a tangible proof of my resolve and
determination to start a new meaningful and results-oriented round of talks,
taking into account the serious apprehensions and strong reservations raised by
the majority of the leaders of political parties and at the expense of serious
political capital.
I can only attribute the rejection
of my latest draft to the absence of the vision of reunification on the part of
our interlocutors. While I was aspiring to a meaningful negotiation in order to
reunite the country, the Turkish Cypriot side was elaborating the terms of an
eventual separation. The people of Cyprus, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots,
deserve a durable settlement and I must assume the responsibility not to give
them false hopes in a stillborn process.
The question that naturally arises
now, in the light of the near impasse the Turkish approach is leading us to, is
what to do next.
In this respect, on January 2 2014 I sent a letter to the UN
Secretary General through which I suggested the swift adoption of a
substantial, simple and significantly shorter Joint Declaration which should
contain the following three elements: a) clear reference to the High Level
Agreements and the relevant United Nations resolutions, particularly Security Council
Resolution 1251 (1999), that fully elaborates the basis of the settlement of
the Cyprus problem and stresses with absolute clarity that the state of Cyprus
will possess a single international personality, a single sovereignty and a
single citizenship, b) clear reference to membership in the European Union and
to the primacy of human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Cypriots,
and c) clear outline of the methodology. Such a short declaration would unlock
the process and allow us to have the first formal meeting of the leaders, the
first milestone of a meaningful negotiation.
Concluding, I would like to
reiterate that my vision is a re-united Cyprus, free from occupation troops,
fully respecting the fundamental freedoms and human rights of all its citizens
and fulfilling the aspirations of all Cypriots to live and thrive within our
European family.
However, it must be clear that the
settlement has to be such that nobody should be able to challenge the unity of
the federal State, undermine or anticipate its dissolution with a view to
promote secessionist actions or attempts to achieve international recognition
of the illegal entity in the occupied areas of Cyprus.
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