Averof calls for Nato membership after Christodoulides-Biden meeting
Former Disy leader Averof Neophytou on Wednesday night called for Cyprus to join Nato after the day’s meeting between President Nikos Christodoulides and United States President Joe Biden.
“It is my firm position that we belong to the west and that for the security and stability of our country, Cyprus should join Nato,” he said, adding, “any current possible difficulties in achieving this goal give us the opportunity to seek a further deepening of our relations and to propose a bilateral military alliance with the US.”
To this end, he said he welcomed the day’s meeting, and added, “by strengthening our relations with the US, we strengthen our homeland.”
“The further strengthening of relations between the US and Cyprus must be pursued regardless of the outcome of the US presidential elections, because it is in the permanent national interest of both countries,” he said.
He added, “in the current critical phase for the Cyprus problem, the Cypriot leadership was obliged to have requested from all sides in the US a more active involvement in the issue. In other words, we expect the White Houses support for a solution to the Cyprus problem to be reflected in the US’ stance towards the Turkish side.”
He also brought up the matter of visa liberalisation and moves being made for Cyprus to join the US’ Visa Waiver Programme, and said similar moves should be made for an agreement to avoid double taxation for US citizens and companies in Cyprus, as exists for US citizens and companies in Ireland.
“An agreement on these issues will bring multiple benefits for both countries. Cyprus will emerge as a privileged place of activity for many multinationals and investment funds to penetrate with business participations and investments in the wider region,” he said.
The meeting was also met with reaction in the north, with Turkish Cypriot opposition party CTP secretary-general Asim Akansoy saying it “shows that it is time to evaluate the Cyprus problem and the Eastern Mediterranean with common sense”.
“This course of events points to opportunities and threats. If the opportunities are not evaluated well, we will face threats and that will cause us all trouble. On the Cyprus problem, the fact that Ersin Tatar and Ankara have gone off the rails and are standing outside the United Nations’ ground has seriously pushed us out of the game,” he said.
He added that Turkish Cypriots require “a political approach which entails attention and responsibility,” and that “realistic steps can be taken in line with the current situation, but Tatar cannot do this.”
“There is no time left and unfortunately, as we get squeezed into a narrow space, we are also eliminating our own capacity to produce something. We have come to a point where we are drifting terribly and losing ground from day to day,” he said.
He added, “and yet, Biden met with [former Turkish Cypriot leader Dervish] Eroglu in northern Nicosia, and I am not even mentioning the contacts made by [former Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali] Talat or [former Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa] Akinci.”
“Today, we have a representative claiming to be wandering around saying ‘I am not Omer the tourist’!”, he added, referring to Tatar’s retort last week when recounting the story of how he had been asked to apply for a tourist visa to visit Australia.
“Turkish Cypriots do not deserve this situation, but they are a society which has the capacity to overcome it. This mentality has made us lose not only time but ground. We remain hopeful and continue to fight against this irrational drift,” he concluded.