The next few weeks will be decisive for the Cyprus issue, with the United Nations Secretary-General working on a plan to break the stalemate and push the process towards a solution, according to government officials.
Victor Papadopoulos, director of the Press Office of the President, said on Sunday that UN Secretary-General António Guterres “has a plan and a roadmap to break the deadlock and reach a solution” to the Cyprus problem. He added that the coming weeks would be critical and stressed that now is the time for unity between political leadership and society.
Speaking at a memorial service for the heroes of Choulou, Papadopoulos said President Nikos Christodoulides “from the very first moment of his election launched an international campaign and an effort to restart negotiations for resolving the Cyprus issue.”
He added that efforts focused on activating the UN Secretary-General to take a new initiative “so that the prolonged deadlock can be broken and the long-sought solution to the Cyprus problem can be achieved, on the basis of relevant UN resolutions, international law and the principles and values of the European Union.”
Push for EU involvement
At the same time, Papadopoulos said, a “marathon effort” was launched to create the conditions for the European Union’s involvement in the process.
This, he explained, aims on the one hand to provide incentives and benefits to Turkey to agree to the resumption of talks from where they left off, and on the other to ensure the EU is present in the negotiation process to guarantee that any solution is compatible with the acquis communautaire and EU principles.
He said that today, following “tireless, sincere efforts and genuine political will” from the Greek Cypriot side – despite difficulties arising from Turkish demands for solutions outside the agreed framework – there is now a new momentum.
This includes a fresh initiative by the UN Secretary-General and his personal envoy to convene a new expanded conference during the summer, which would lead to the resumption of negotiations for a comprehensive, functional and viable settlement.
“Guterres has a plan”
Papadopoulos reiterated that the UN chief “has a plan and a roadmap to break the deadlock and reach a solution,” assuring that President Christodoulides “is making every possible effort to ensure António Guterres succeeds in his mission”.
“These are critical moments, as the coming weeks will be decisive for the course of our national issue,” he said. “Consultations are under way at multiple levels, both by the United Nations and by the European Union, which is assisting the efforts of the Secretary-General in full coordination with him.”
Call for unity
He stressed that “now is the time for unity – unity between the people and the leadership, unity among the political leadership."
This unity, he said, is necessary first to achieve the resumption of talks and subsequently the “liberation and reunification” of Cyprus through a solution based on UN resolutions and EU principles.
Such a solution, he added, must allow the state to function smoothly both internally and externally, be viable and free Cyprus from occupation troops and outdated systems of guarantees.
Tribute to Choulou heroes
Papadopoulos also paid tribute to the heroes of Choulou: Kyriakos Constantinos Theodorou, who was killed at the age of 17 in 1964 during the Lozan incidents in Paphos; Christodoulos Theofanis Argyrou, who died in the Tylliria bombings on August 9, 1964; Miltiadis Georgiou Miltiadous, missing since October 15, 1964, whose remains were identified in 2014; Andreas Spyrou Ellinas, killed on June 16, 1974 in Limassol while serving as a reserve special police officer; Georgios Christofi Herodotou, who died defending democratic legality and constitutional order on July 15, 1974; and Socrates Christodoulou Spyrou, mortally wounded in battle on July 20, 1974 and until recently listed as missing.
“The people we honour today were ordinary people – people of hard work, with families, dreams and plans for the future,” he said. “History called them to rise to the occasion, and they responded with selflessness and without hesitation.”
Their sacrifices, he added, “remind us that freedom, democracy and human dignity are not given. They require constant vigilance, responsibility, sacrifice – and above all, unity.”
