Christodoulides informs small parties of Cyprus problem progress

The leaders of the three political parties which lost all their seats in parliament at May’s election, Dipa, the Ecologists’ Movement, and Edek, were on Thursday invited to the presidential palace to be informed by President Nikos Christodoulides of the latest developments on the Cyprus problem. All three made statements after the meeting, with Edek leader Nikos Anastasiou calling for Turkey to offer “tangible examples” of its “commitment” to progress before achieving progress in its own relations with the European Union. “There is no way that we can accept that by their presence at talks alone, it would be enough to open up matters between Europe and Turkey. There must first be compliance from Turkey, and then any discussions on relations between Europe and Turkey can take place,” he said. Ecologists’ Movement leader Stavros Papadouris said that the forthcoming developments on the Cyprus problem must constitute “a process of substance”, and said that thus far, “confidence-building measures have not served any purpose”. “The Republic of Cyprus always declares its readiness to come at any time with good will. We are always ready,” he said. Dipa leader Marios Garoyian described the current period as “extremely interesting” and said that “mobility is being observed and recorded on the Cyprus issue, both at the United Nations and European Union levels”. “The Republic of Cyprus and the president have been sending the message for some time that our side is ready for the resumption of negotiations. We are ready with the same good will to enter into a process which leads to the resolution of the Cyprus issue,” he said. He added that a resolution would “mainly depend on Turkey, its intentions and its policies”, but expressed a modicum of optimism, saying that “in politics and in life, everything is possible”. “Now, we will wait to see what the development will be at the level of Europe and Turkey, because it is logical for one to expect that Turkey, which wants to upgrade its relations with the EU, cannot do it at will,” he said. To this end, he said that Turkey “will have to demonstrate in practice that it has the intention, the willingness, to implement its Cyprus-related obligations, but also to behave in such a way that it will allow the EU to give”. However, he added, if Turkey “continues to insist on its own highly unacceptable positions”, it “cannot look forward to upgrading relations and achieving its own goals”. In addition, he pointed out that UN envoy Maria Angela Holguin “has been particularly active in recent times”, and that she will next visit Brussels for a meeting with European Council President Antonio Costa on Monday. “We hope that developments will be such that they will allow [UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres] to convene an enlarged meeting, and hopefully, it will be the beginning for the start of negotiations aimed at the final resolution of the Cyprus problem,” he said.