He states that Nicosia is moderately optimistic, in view of the informal conference on the Cyprus issue, while sending the message that it does not accept a change in the basis and form of solution of the Cyprus problem, as well as arbitrations and suffocating schedules. A new meeting of the legal group set up in preparation for the informal conference will take place on Monday.
Following the statement of the representative of the UN Secretary General, that Antonio Guterres intends to convene an informal 5 + 1 meeting on the Cyprus issue very soon, the Government Spokesman Kyriakos Kousios, stated that it is expected that in the near future, within the next most likely, there will be a formal announcement from the United Nations on this issue.
“At this stage there is nothing more we can say. We can just wait for the official announcement from the United Nations,” Kousios said.
Asked about Nicosia's preparations for the informal conference, the Government Spokesman said that “preparations for the informal pentagon have been under way for some time. It is known that a group of legal experts on constitutional law and other similar specialties has been set up. which has already met in several sessions, “he said.
He added that “the members of this group have studied various issues, which have been brought before them, and the discussion of the results of the work they have done has already begun. And on Monday there will be a new meeting of this group to discuss specific legal issues “They concern the essence of the Cyprus problem but also the informal pentamer”, he stated.
At the same time, he noted, the President of the Republic has met with the negotiating team “and intends to utilize all the members of the negotiating team, especially in the areas in which they have dealt, as he will utilize the contribution of special constitutional jurists.”
Asked to comment on statements by Turkish leader Ersin Tatar that he would put the two-state solution on the informal conference, the government spokesman said: “We support a solution based on the resolutions and decisions of the United Nations and the Council. Security “.
He recalled that “only recently in the process of renewing the mandate of UNFICYP, the Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2561, which confirmed Resolution 1251 regarding the solution of the Cyprus problem. And it is clear that 1251 determines the basis “solution to the Cyprus problem,” he said.
Mr Koussios also said that “the Secretary-General of the United Nations has and is withdrawing the terms of his mandate from United Nations Security Council resolutions.”
He added that “since the resolutions of the Security Council determine the form and basis for the solution of the Cyprus problem, we expect that the Secretary General will act within the terms of his mandate, without this meaning that he should not take any initiatives for there should be a way out, if there is a situation that does not allow further negotiations, in the same way that he took some initiatives in Crans Montana, recording the six points in his document “.
“Our positions remain unchanged and we will go to the conference with clear positions,” he said, noting that the form of solution must be a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation, as set out in Security Council resolutions.
At the same time, he added, the solution must be compatible with the principles and values of the European Union, of which Cyprus is and will continue to be a member.
He added that it is no coincidence that the European Union has repeatedly stated that it will be present in the negotiations on the substance of the Cyprus problem, with a special envoy, while at the same time it will be present, as an observer, in the informal pentagon.
Mr. Kousios said that we should not forget the convergences that have been achieved during the dialogue, as we can not forget the Joint Declaration of November 25, 2019 in Berlin, during the meeting of the Secretary General of the United Nations with the President Anastasiadis and the then Turkish Cypriot leader, Mustafa Akinci, and the Joint Statement of February 2014 of President Anastasiadis and the then Turkish Cypriot leader, Dervis Eroglou.
Regarding the statements of Mr. Tatar, Mr. Kousios said that we have had similar statements from the Turkish side in the past. “Let me remind you when Rauf Denktash was the leader of the Turkish Cypriots and when Mr. Eroglou was the Turkish leader. We did not have the same treatment then?” He said.
“Hopefully,” he added, “we will go to the informal pentagon to determine the exact positions of the two sides. We are prepared for any eventuality. There is a modest optimism that the informal pentagram will be able to have some results, so that “Encourage the UN Secretary-General to take the next essential step, which is to negotiate a solution to the Cyprus problem, a solution that must be fair, functional, therefore viable, and free of anachronistic guarantees or the presence of foreign troops.”
Answering another question, Mr. Kousios said that the role of the Secretary General of the United Nations will not be arbitrary, noting that the Cyprus issue “is a problem that concerns Cyprus itself, it is Cypriot property.
“We can accept neither arbitrations nor suffocating schedules,” he stressed.
He added that “what we hope is that with the positions that will be submitted, the Secretary General will be able, with his interventions, to help the parties to go one step further.”
“Our position is clear that the change of base and form of solution of the Cyprus problem is not acceptable”, concluded Mr. Kousios.
