The UN General Assembly is now a point of reference for the Cyprus issue, says the Foreign Minister “The effort of the Secretary General has not ended and our side remains positive” & #8211; Interview in the newspaper “I Kathimerini”
The point of reference for the Cyprus issue is the General Assembly of the United strong> Nations (UN) states in an interview published on Sunday in the newspaper “I Kathimerini”, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus, Konstantinos Kombos, noting that ” the effort of the General Secretary has not ended and our side remains positive”.
In his interview, the Minister of Foreign Affairs spoke, among other things, about the latest developments in the Cyprus issue, about the criticism received by the President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulidis for his handling regarding the recent UN proposal to hold a tripartite meeting and the invitation to the Turkish Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, for participation in the informal Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union (EU). At the same time, Mr. Kombos sent a message to the Turkish Cypriots that the position of Tatars and Ankara for two states is against their interests as, as he said, such a thing entails the automatic loss of European citizenship and the multiple benefits that accompany it.
Asked about the criticism leveled at the Government for agreeing to the presence of the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs at the informal Foreign Affairs Council that will take place next Thursday, Mr. Kombos replied that the effort to invite Turkey was something that had been intensifying in the past period and was imperatively in February, noting that the KD did not agree as at that time there was no procedure for Euro-Turkish issues and the discussion of the Borel Report that took place in April was pending, so there were the conclusions of the European Council which initiated the implementation of the Borel Report. “Consequently, now the presence of Mr. Fidan will be in the context set by the conclusions,” he said.
When asked what has changed and now Mr. Fidan's participation has become acceptable, Mr. Kombos replied that a key element is the April conclusions, but it is also a matter of timing. “Given the specific situation and the attempt to restart the negotiations on the Cyprus issue and knowing that the UN Secretary-General had made a proposal for a tripartite meeting in August, what reason would our side have to refuse the dialogue in the framework of the Council of European Affairs? That's what I mean by saying February was not the right time in terms of timing,” he said.
Asked to answer what would be the desired outcome of the upcoming informal Council, the Minister of Foreign Affairs said that the agenda is focused on issues of common interest and this includes regional developments, always through the lens of the Euro-Turkish and with Cyprus as part of them.
In response to a question about the United Nations scouting for a tripartite meeting in August and the criticism leveled at President Christodoulidis for the related revelation, Mr. Kombos replied that “the report was correctly made by the President at the given time. Bolidoscopy was done more than once. The side that was immediately and repeatedly positive is our side. The side that turned out to be negative was the Turkish side”.
When asked how the Government is now proceeding with the Cyprus issue, Mr. Kombos stated that the effort of the UN Secretary General has not ended by pointing out that “our side remains positive». He added that the point of reference now is the UN General Assembly. Within this time frame, he continued, from now until the General Assembly, the General Assembly may return to this issue. “But we must not forget that last year we had a similar effort by the Secretary General at the UN General Assembly which was not accepted -again- by the other side”, he said.
Asked to send a message to the Turkish Cypriots, the Foreign Minister said that “we believe that what will be particularly beneficial for all Cypriots is to reach an agreed solution within the framework set by the United Nations Security Council.” He underlined that the two-state approach is disastrous “with disastrous results for all of us, including the Turkish Cypriots”, because, as he explained, doing so means they automatically lose European citizenship and the multiple benefits that come with it. He also indicated that the position of Tatars and Ankara for two states is directed against the Turkish Cypriots themselves, noting that “they are supporting something that at the level of the ordinary world will have a serious impact”.
Finally, when asked at what level the relations are with Colin Stewart, Mr Kobos said relations with UNFICYP are traditionally close and there is daily contact. “Expressing even strong disagreement, whether regarding reports, recording, or methodology, does not constitute a lack of will to reach an agreement with UNFICYP or its leader,” he concluded.
