‘Critical week’ ahead for the Cyprus problem, Ioannou says
The week ahead will be “critical” for the Cyprus problem, Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou said on Sunday.
“Our effort is continuous. We have a clear goal, and we are working towards achieving it,” he said at a service held to mark the 51st anniversary of the Greek junta-sponsored coup d’état which overthrew the government led by Archbishop Makarios III in 1974.
“We are entering a critical week for the Cyprus problem, and the president [Nikos Christodoulides] is going to the enlarged meeting convened by the United Nations secretary-general [Antonio Guterres] in a positive spirit and adequately prepared to participate in a discussion on the substance.”
He added that the government “seeks to preserve and intensify the mobility of the last two years” and aims to “achieve a positive outcome and substantial progress”, while also hoping to “create the conditions which will allow a return to dialogue”.
“Our ultimate goal is to reach a sustainable and functional solution which will ensure and protect the rights of all legal citizens of the Republic of Cyprus. We seek a solution based on the agreed framework and the negotiated acquis communautaire, which will free our country from the presence of occupying troops, guarantor forces, and interventionist rights,” he said.
Such a solution, he added, will “enable all legal residents of Cyprus to live in conditions of peace, security, and progress, which will highlight the Republic of Cyprus as a pillar of stability and security in the turbulent eastern Mediterranean region”.
In addition, he said, those who died during the coup d’état of July 15, 1974, and the Turkish invasion of the island five days later, will only be “vindicated” through “the liberation and reunification of our homeland and the peaceful coexistence of all Cypriots”.
“We keep their memory alive and our desire for freedom unquenchable, and we will continue with all our strength the fight for vindication,” he said.
The “critical week” will begin on Monday evening, with United Nations special representative in Cyprus Colin Stewart set to brief the security council on the Cyprus problem.
The following day will be the 51st anniversary of the 1974 coup d’état, before an enlarged meeting on the Cyprus problem, involving representatives of Cyprus’ two sides, its three guarantor powers, Greece, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, and the UN, will be held on Wednesday and Thursday in New York.
Friday will see the publication of Guterres’ six-monthly reports on the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus (Unficyp) and the UN’s good offices on the island, though advance copies have already been sent to involved parties and to security council members.
Next Sunday will be the 51st anniversary of Turkey’s invasion of the island, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expected to visit Cyprus to take part in celebrations in the north.