Govt ‘will not yield on demand for Turkish military archives’

Labour Minister Marinos Mousiouttas assured on Sunday that Cyprus will not abandon its demand that Turkey open its military archives, so that the fate of every missing person can be established. Speaking at a memorial service for Eoka fighter Spyros Hadjiyiakoumis held at the Ayia Varvara Church in Nicosia, Mousiouttas said the government is working on the diplomatic front for an expanded meeting and for talks to resume from where they broke off at Crans-Montana in 2017, “without losing what has already been agreed”. He said the framework is clear, that being a “bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality, as set out in UN Security Council resolutions, with no occupation troops, outdated guarantees or intervention rights for third parties”. “What is missing is Turkey’s political will,” he said. He said a two-state solution “would never be accepted” and that the present partition created by the 1974 invasion would “not be given legitimacy”. Turning to Hadjiyiakoumis, Mousiouttas said, “every day lived in freedom” in the government-controlled areas is “a gift from people who gave their lives”.