By Martin Hellicar
DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades yesterday charged Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Yiannos Kranidiotis with trying to use the S-300 missiles issue for personal political gain.
Anastassiades reacted angrily to Kranidiotis’ public denial of his claim that Athens had forced Nicosia into not bringing the Russian missiles to Cyprus.
On New Year’s eve, in an effort to justify President Glafcos Clerides’s controversial December 29 decision to re-route the S-300s to Crete, Anastassiades said Greek Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos had made it plain Athens would no longer support Cyprus if the missiles were deployed on the island.
In an interview with Ant1 television earlier this week, Kranidiotis said this was not true, although he did not deny that Athens had pushed for a missile rethink. He also said he had never supported the original decision to order the ground-to-air missiles – taken jointly by Athens and Nicosia.
Anastassiades described Kranidiotis’s denial as “aimless, unnecessary and far removed from reality”.
The Disy leader said Kranidiotis had dealt a blow to Athens-Nicosia relations at a time when everyone was doing their best to protect them in the wake of the missile saga.
“At a time when we are really trying to be as restrained as we can, to avoid even the slightest upset in relations between Athens and Nicosia, some people are trying to excuse themselves by denying what they have not denied for a month.”
The Disy leader said Kranidiotis’s statements had been motivated by a desire to score political points for himself.
“He should be particularly careful when serving his personal ambitions,” accused Anastassiades.
Kranidiotis’s claims that he had never supported the missile deal “brought his mental capabilities into question”, Anastassiades said. Everyone knew the decision to order the missiles had been taken jointly by Greece and Cyprus, he said.
“It’s all in Mr Kranidiotis’s head. I’m sorry to be speaking like this, but when you hear a deputy Foreign Minister talking as if they had no idea what it was all about, you have to wonder…” Anastassiades said.
Edek leader Vassos Lyssarides also expressed “surprise” at Kranidiotis’s claim that he never supported the S-300s.
