Conditions of ‘joint concern for the good of Cyprus’

Opinion Antonio GuterresCyprus problemNikos Christodoulidespolitics Conditions of ‘joint concern for the good of Cyprus’ Kyriakhs Odofragmata 1536x1076 Relevant News Conditions of ‘joint concern for the good of Cyprus’ 3 August 2026 Eisai to lifesaver mou 3 August 2026 Cyprus foot-and-mouth outbreak in retreat, official says 3 August 2026 Aristos Michaelides 3 August 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber António Guterres came here hoping to leave with one concrete win under his belt. He put forward a simple proposal to Nikos Christodoulides and Tufan Erhürman: open the Mia Milia and Athienou crossing points at the same time. Earlier rounds of talks had gone nowhere, so UN officials had drawn up a fresh route between Athienou and Aglantzia, following María Ángela Holguín’s visit to the area, and Guterres brought it to the table himself. Christodoulides said yes on the spot. Erhürman said no. There’s only so much mockery a person can take before they have to just say it: Erhürman is a hypocrite, plain and simple. And anyone still applauding him, or lecturing our side for not opening Mia Milia alone, is living on another planet. Rewind to February, when the roadblocks were back in the headlines. Erhürman was marking his first hundred days in office and had a lot to say about confidence-building measures, which he described as the true test of both sides’ sincerity. He accused Christodoulides of insincerity for insisting on “transit passage” through Athienou–Aglantzia. What’s genuinely worth dwelling on, though, is how he justified rejecting it himself. Here’s the quote in full, so there’s no dispute about what he actually said: “When you talk about transit passage, that obviously means a very long route through the buffer zone. It isn’t us saying this can’t be done, it’s the United Nations itself. UNFICYP’s budget has been cut, and the difficulties experienced in the buffer zone are already reflected in the UN’s own reports. So now a road is going to run through there, and its security is somehow going to be guaranteed? I don’t want to play the blame game, but the United Nations itself doesn’t want this. So we need to talk about what’s actually achievable.” He landed the blame squarely on the UN. Shameless doesn’t begin to cover it. According to him, the UN doesn’t want this either, and on top of that, they’re skint, so a secure road through the buffer zone is apparently out of the question. All down to UNFICYP’s budget, he’d have us believe. Now the Secretary-General himself has flown in, put the exact same road forward in person, and Erhürman has turned it down anyway, sounding for all the world like a mouthpiece for the occupying army. I’d give a lot to know what he actually said to Guterres’ face. That he’s knocking it back because of UNFICYP’s finances? “We are content with the creation of an independent, sovereign and unitary state” This question of sincerity has deep roots, and Guterres’ visit gave Şener Levent the excuse to remind us, the other day, of the very first Secretary-General to set foot here. That was Kurt Waldheim, who also turned up promising to help. Back in 1972, if you can believe it. Levent dug up a piece from the Turkish Cypriot paper Bozkurt covering that visit, in which he found a report claiming that “Turkish resistance and fighters’ associations issued a joint statement addressed to Kurt Waldheim: we will not accept any solution not guaranteed by Turkey” (June 7, 1972). 1972! The same report claimed “the Greek Cypriot side was preparing to hound Kurt Waldheim with cries for enosis throughout his time in Cyprus.” No doubt some on the Greek Cypriot side were saying exactly that. But the official line, the one speaking for the whole of the Greek Cypriot side, told a very different story, and that’s the distinction that counts. So I went digging through Phileleftheros’ own coverage from the days of Waldheim’s visit. Alongside the news reports on a historic trip meant to bring Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots to the table, there was a front-page piece (June 6, 1972) which, after welcoming the Secretary-General ahead of his arrival that afternoon and offering “our heartfelt thanks for the United Nations’ most keen interest in Cyprus,” laid out philenews’s own position “on our problem.” It read: “We are entitled to claim our full demand, that of self-determination, which, exercised rightly, democratically and freely, would show that the overwhelming majority of the Cypriot people wish for the Union of their particular homeland with mother Greece. But unfortunately, for many well-known reasons and factors, we cannot, without wider danger to peace between Greece and Turkey and to peace in a perhaps broader radius, insistently demand the exercise of the right of self-determination. And, showing the political sense that the former UN mediator Dr Galo Plaza himself asked of us, and mindful of the need for peace, we accepted the concession. And we are content with the creation of an independent, sovereign and unitary state, freed from the spectre of foreign intervention and from the rights of third parties to dictate, through threats and the use of force, the future of our homeland. Beyond this, we are ready to accept the full safeguarding of the genuine rights of our Turkish Cypriot compatriots, under clear guarantees from the United Nations…” It spoke further of “conditions of peaceful coexistence, harmonious cooperation and joint concern for the good of Cyprus.” But “to this day, no positive response has been observed from the other side.” To this day. That’s the plain truth of it. Subscribe to our Newsletter Latest News Eisai to lifesaver mou Cyprus foot-and-mouth outbreak in retreat, official says Overnight pharmacies on Monday, August 3 Parliament isn’t X, TikTok or Facebook; the failed grilling over the Paschalides report announcement The Manchester United prodigy who could one day play for Cyprus The geopolitical dimension of energy, and “Cronos” Fire chief warns of arson signs as 2026 blazes top 1,450 Follow en.philenews on Google News and be the first to know all the news about Cyprus and the world.