The President of the Republic, Mr Nikos Christodoulides, attended today, 11 November 2023, the “Remembrance Day” event where he laid a wreath at the Memorial of the Fallen of the Second World War at PASYDY premises in Lefkosia.
President Christodoulides then made statements to the media.
In response to a journalist question on the purpose of the event, the President referred to Cyprus’ contribution of Cyprus to World War I and World War II with the participation of many volunteers, adding that we did not learn from World War I and World War II, considering the facts and developments in our region.
The President stated that it is not enough to simply commemorate all those who died. The most important thing, he said, is to take the appropriate actions so that similar events and developments are avoided, adding that the Republic of Cyprus, always within its capacities, is trying to help, taking into account its proximity to the region, its excellent relations with all the states in the region and its status as an European Union (EU) member state, especially regarding the humanitarian aspect of this crisis.
Asked about the possibility of a permanent pause in Pyla, the President stated, “The assurances we have, at least on the part of the United Nations (UN), I can tell you that they do not specify that. On the contrary, they ask for time to implement the agreed Consensus. I inform you that I have requested and a telephone conversation with the UN Secretary-General has been arranged for Monday. I will be in Berlin for a short European Council meeting on the EU strategic agenda, the future of the EU, and I will speak with the UN Secretary- General from there. One of the issues we will discuss is the implementation of what has been agreed on the issue of Pyla.”
In response to whether the Government is aware of the content of what has been agreed between UNFICYP and the Turkish side, and whether there is anything that binds the other part to comply with what has been agreed upon, the President replied, “The Republic of Cyprus worked to ensure that the Buffer Zone status is not violated and that no military advantage is created for the Turkish occupying forces. If there is someone who disagrees with these two points, they can publicly say so. We focus on substance, which is the agreed Consensus. It is important that the people of the region welcome this effort of the Republic of Cyprus, and, I repeat, our objective is twofold. On the one hand, there should be no violation of the Buffer Zone and, on the other hand, no military advantage should be created for the occupying forces. Beyond that, the UN are responsible for implementing what has been agreed upon.”
Asked whether he believes that, as things stand, the Turkish Cypriot side has withdrawn from the provisions of this Consensus, the President replied, “As things stand at this moment, yes, because the observed pause is due to the actions of the Turkish occupying forces. And the UN, I mentioned it publicly a few days ago, asked for a pause so that through consultations with the occupying forces, with Turkey, they can ensure the implementation of what has been agreed upon.”
In response to comment whether the phone conversation with Mr Guterres is also related to the issue of the envoy because there was a corresponding call with Mr Tatar, the President said, “It is not relevant that Mr Tatar spoke with the Secretary-General. The phone call with the Secretary-General concerns three issues. The first, the one you mentioned before, the appointment of a personality. You already know that the Secretary-General has decided on a certain personality.” The President added that Turkey’s reaction to the appointment of a personality from the Commonwealth countries is not reasonable, adding, “There have been plenty of such appointments. The UN continues the effort, so the one issue that will be discussed is this.” Continuing his statement on the three issues of the phone call with the Secretary-General, Mr Christodoulides stated, “The second is certainly the developments in Pyla, and the third is the effort of the Republic of Cyprus to create a sea humanitarian corridor. I exchanged views with Mr Lacroix when he was in Cyprus. I want to talk more specifically, especially with the Secretary-General. The UN has a role to play, particularly in receiving the humanitarian aid. Therefore, these are the three issues, without ruling out other issue.”
Asked about the possibility of a new envoy name, the President said, “No, the information we have from the UN side is that the person chosen by the Secretary-General is still on the table, and efforts continue on the part of the UN. If someone is looking for excuses, if one is afraid to come to the negotiation table, one can find many excuses. But let us hope, let us give the Secretary-General time to see what he can achieve on this particular issue, which we believe is crucial, considering that we will also be discussing the EU-Turkey relations at the European Council in December. We also discussed this yesterday with the Greek Prime Minister, the developments on the Cyprus problem. One of them is the appointment of a personality. Progress on the Greek-Turkish issues is important so as to see progress on Euro-Turkish issues.”
When asked to comment on the statements he made to Le Monde on the Gaza issue, without going into details about the Israeli Prime Minister’s recommendation for the specific humanitarian aid delivery point in southwestern Gaza, the President replied, “We got into specifics, of course we did. We have a document, 25 pages long, that presents step by step how all this will be implemented. There are ongoing consultations as we speak, and in the coming days, there will be consultations at the technical level, at the technocratic level, with Israel and other countries, to see all the details.”
In response to whether a team from Cyprus has gone to Israel to discuss exactly this issue, the President responded that there are constant telephone communications and that there will be a team going to Israel in the next few days.
Asked about the existence of an indicative timeframe, if and when it is decided to implement this initiative, as well as when it will start, the President said, “Our proposal has three stages. It is what can be implemented immediately, in the medium term, and in the long term. No one can estimate with certainty how long this war, this crisis, will last. Our wish and expectation is that it will end tomorrow. But I repeat, no one can determine that. Therefore, through our proposal, we precisely deal with, immediate, medium and long term.”
When asked to comment on the remarks made by the Greek Prime Minister for technical difficulties as regards this proposal and whether there is any discussion with the European partners on how to overcome these difficulties, the President stated, “I will remind you that the Greek Prime Minster welcomed the initiative of the Republic of Cyprus and he even specifically suggested that Greece will participate in this initiative. Beyond that, yes, there are technical issues and that is what we are working on.”
(MS/GS)
