President of the Republic Nikos Christodoulides has said he is ready to sit at the negotiating table on the Cyprus problem “even tomorrow”, while making clear that any concessions on his part would be limited to points that serve a functional and viable solution. He was speaking on Saturday evening at the 46th anti-occupation event of the Municipality of Morphou, held in Astromeritis.
Message against the occupation
Thanking those present, and in particular the guests from abroad, President Christodoulides said the event sends “the resounding message in every direction that we do not accept the occupation, and we do not stand down from the great effort to liberate and reunite our homeland”.
He added that the event “shows the only path of duty: to work for a common homeland for all its legal inhabitants, Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, Maronites, Armenians and Latins, without exclusions, without discrimination, without exceptions”.
Readiness to resume negotiations
Referring to remarks by the Mayor of Morphou, Viktoras Hadjiavraam, on positive developments arising from international momentum on the Cyprus problem, the President said that since the start of his term “an enormous effort” has been made. He described its aim as being “to break the deadlock and create the conditions for the resumption of negotiations that will lead us to a solution of the Cyprus problem, on the basis of the agreed framework and the negotiating acquis, and, importantly for Morphou, always with respect for the principles, values and law of the European Union”.
“I want, from this very podium, before all of you, to repeat with absolute sincerity, and sending the message in every direction, that I am fully ready, even tomorrow, to sit at the negotiating table. I am ready, even tomorrow, for the dialogue to begin,” he said.
The President reiterated his commitment to efforts to restart negotiations, despite the problems and difficulties and despite the Turkish President’s statements at the UN General Assembly calling for a two-state solution.
Factors cited for optimism
President Christodoulides pointed to several developments as significant:
The completion of the recording of convergences and the reaffirmation of the solution framework by the United Nations.
The strong will of the outgoing UN Secretary-General to exhaust every negotiating possibility, and the clear position of the UN Security Council, from which the current Secretary-General and the new one yet to be elected receive their mandate.
The support of EU institutions and member states, demonstrated through the appointment of the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, based on the position that the Cyprus problem is a European problem.
The support of strategic partners.
“These are facts that allow us to be optimistic that a solution to the Cyprus problem is achievable. And if I did not believe that a solution to the Cyprus problem was achievable, I would not be dealing with this issue every day,” he said.
He stressed that he would not slide into “actions to create temporary momentum or to create false hopes”.
Concessions within a functional and viable solution
“I remain, above all, a realist. I know very well the limits of our side, and I am ready, and I declare it publicly, to make concessions on certain points that serve the goal of a functional and viable solution of the Cyprus problem,” President Christodoulides said.
He added that “anything that falls outside this framework, of a functional and viable solution, cannot be accepted”.
“My guide and compass is the mandate I received from the Cypriot people: to work for a solution that will transform the Republic of Cyprus into a modern state, sovereign over all its territory, without an occupation army and without guarantors with rights of intervention, in which all its legal citizens will have exactly the same rights as European citizens,” he said.
Morphou and the negotiating acquis
The President stressed that “the negotiating acquis that we invoke and on which we insist, and which is part of the convergences completed by the UN, also includes the return of the town of Morphou”.
He said this was “something that the UN Secretary-General himself indicated, a position that we strongly support and will not abandon”.
Upcoming meetings and new ideas
“I look forward to the meetings I will have in the coming period, both with the Turkish Cypriot leader and with the personal envoy of the Secretary-General. I look forward to the meetings of the Executive Vice-President, the EU’s special representative, with the Turkish government, with the unshakeable conviction that if there is even the slightest political will from all sides, then we will see developments in the desired direction,” President Christodoulides said.
“In response to the Secretary-General’s request, we have submitted very specific positions concerning the methodology of the negotiations, confidence-building measures and, of course, the substance of the Cyprus problem,” he continued.
“I am referring to new ideas. Not ideas to which we simply know the other side’s position is negative, but ideas that can help bring about substantive developments, ideas on which I have also thoroughly briefed the political leadership,” he added.
He said he would continue to invest in cooperation with all political forces, regardless of party or ideological background, so that “the last glimmer of hope for the vindication of our people” can be seized.
66 years of the Republic of Cyprus
Marking 66 years since the founding of the Republic of Cyprus, President Christodoulides said that during this period the state “received two critical blows from Turkey”.
“The first in 1963, with the withdrawal of the Turkish Cypriots from the structures of the state. And the second, of course, with the illegal invasion in 1974 and the occupation, continuing for 52 years, of 37% of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus,” he said.
“Despite the administrative and territorial mutilation it suffered from these two crimes, because crimes they are, the Republic of Cyprus, the only internationally recognised state representing the Cypriot people, moves forward in the international community with dignity and credibility,” he said.
He added that “it is this dignity and credibility that contributed, among other things, to this international momentum”.
“We have every reason, without overlooking the problems and challenges, to feel proud of the achievements of our people and of the dignity with which they have moved forward under adverse conditions, with will, with resolve and with patience, for the reunification of our homeland,” the President concluded.
He gave an assurance that “we will continue our struggle until we can move freely throughout the territory of the Republic of Cyprus. From one end to the other.”
