DURING his televised press conference, President Demetris Christofias said the recent mass protests by Turkish Cypriots showed they were truly concerned about their own existence and loss of identity, something which should concern Greek Cypriots too.
The Turkish Cypriot protests sent political, as well as economic, messages, which the Turkish Cypriot and Turkish leadership were aware of, he said.
“To what extent this will be used to pressure them should concern us too,” said Christofias.
Christofias said the Turkish Cypriots were suffering from Turkey’s “tight embrace” and the continuing illegal influx of Turkish settlers, noting that recent rallies and other demonstrations by Turkish Cypriots testify to this.
He said it should be understood that the Turkish Cypriots are truly “worried about their existence and not only for economic reasons”.
The president extended a “hand of friendship and cooperation” to the Turkish Cypriot community.
“It is particularly important for them to know that the official Greek Cypriot leadership has the political will for a solution, that they can trust us and they would want to cooperate with us,” he said.
He stressed the need for rapprochement and a common struggle between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.
Asked whether the lack of progress in the current peace talks made him regret a missed opportunity in 2004 when the Annan plan was on the table, he said: “We are not working alone for a solution. Opposite us is Turkey.”
He replied that the reason there hasn’t been a solution since 2004 was because “Turkey didn’t want a solution.”
“I want to hope that after elections in Turkey, the Turkish leadership will revise its position” to move towards a solution.
Christofias argued that the Greek Cypriots rightly rejected the Annan plan at the time which did not provide adequate solutions to key issues like security, guarantees and property.
Regarding the position of his party, AKEL, at the time, he said: “We didn’t just say a simple no to the Annan plan,” noting that he had asked the UN and Turkey to postpone the referendum for six to eight months so the two sides could reach an agreed solution.
“Unfortunately, Turkey considered the Annan plan an opportunity and refused this proposal…Turkey considered that after arbitration, it had secured the biggest diplomatic victory in the last 50 years, and that was (Tayyip) Erdogan’s statement.”
