Anastasiades slams ‘lame excuses’ from critics

That he was holding up a Cyprus solution by nitpicking on procedural minutiae is a lame excuse being used by his detractors, President Nicos Anastasiades said on Sunday.

The comment came two days after UN Special Envoy Espen Bart Eide threw in the towel saying the leaders were stuck on the modalities when it came to agreeing on a new Geneva conference to discuss security and guarantees.

The agreed formula was they would discuss that chapter first and then territory, and reviewing progress under an agreed criteria for what constituted progress, would move on to outstanding differences in the other four chapters on internal aspects of the Cyprus problem. However they could not agree on the criteria for progress.

Anastasiades defended his stance saying the two sides had been discussing the same things for 44 years and it was time to move on, the theory being that some kind of convergence on guarantees and territory could be the impetus to close the other four chapters.

“Now is the moment of truth. Does Turkey mean what is says or will it go to Geneva simply to have a picnic,” he said.

“I mean what I say, that you need to finally get to grips with the essence of all chapters funds in order to achieve what all Cypriot people want: a solution of the Cyprus problem that can work and that ensures stability and future prospects for all Cypriots. The criticism about procedure etc are lame excuses. We have exhausted all possibilities related to the four chapters.”

Anastasiades said there was no reason for Turkey to back out of talks on security and guarantees since the principle still applied to the talks that “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed”.

“Therefore, our good faith has been shown at the negotiating table, even through the proposal submitted. Therefore, it is time for the truth to emerge who really wants and seek a solution that is in the interests of Cypriots and not in the interests of third parties,” he added.

Asked to comment on criticism that he has put his personal ambition for re-election over the Cyprus issue, the President said: “If my goal was the election in 2018 I would not have submitted the proposal for a conference to achieve a Cyprus settlement,” he concluded

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.