PRESIDENT Tassos Papadopoulos caused a storm among the opposition yesterday over his statement that he would not sign any ‘disastrous’ settlements for Cyprus just to accumulate brownie points.
Papadopoulos made his statement late on Monday at an event marking the Turkish invasion.
”If some want to accuse me of being intransigent or to consider me an obstacle to their designs on Cyprus, I am not willing to contribute, knowingly, to an unacceptable solution of the Cyprus problem just to secure an honourable mention and to elicit a certificate of allegedly good conduct,” he said.
“I have no ambition to be a president of any kind of solution. My ambition is to hand to the people a good and viable solution, even a bitter and painful settlement, a compromise which shall be, at least, functional and viable.”
Papadopoulos slammed former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan’s 2004 peace plan as not a solution but a “dissolution” of both the Republic of Cyprus and Hellenism.
Yesterday opposition DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades called on Papadopoulos to explain how he intends to achieve a solution by making proposals and not signing anything.
“We have been isolated internationally and alone in Europe. We have lost international interest and we have 57 hostile countries in the Islamic Conference.
“I wonder what solution the President is speaking of. Why doesn’t he explain in detail how he will achieve the solution he had not managed to reach in the last few years?” said Anastassiades.
He called on Papadopoulos to answer the refugees that through their despair have been forced to resort to unacceptable applications to the property commission in the north, and how they will get their properties back if the island is not united by 2010.
DISY’s presidential candidate Ioannis Kasoulides also weighed in with his criticism asking Papadopoulos to show what efforts he made to solve the Cyprus problem.
Responding to the President’s statement yesterday, AKEL leader and presidential candidate said any further mention of the Annan plan would be tantamount to masochism.
“I can’t bring forth discussions on the Annan plan when Annan himself is not bringing any discussions of his own plan. From our side it would be equal to some sort of internal, masochistic battle and I am not a masochist.”
Meanwhile UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon confirmed reports he had a telephone conversation on Friday with Turkish-Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat. Talat last week called off planned talks with Papadopoulos after accusing the Greek Cypriot side of forcing a British football team to pull out of a friendly match in the north.
“I am continuing to encourage the two leaders of the two communities to engage in dialogue and this is what I will continue to do,” Ban said. “We are faced with so many challenges around the world, including of course the situation in Cyprus.”
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