Following Tuesday’s perplexed reaction to the breakdown of talks late on Monday, opposition parties in Cyprus resumed their usual hardline rhetoric on Wednesday, calling on President Nicos Anastasiades to join Greece in demanding that Turkey agrees to abolishing guarantees before consenting to attend a multi-party conference.
The only exception to the barrage of calls to back Greece’s stated precondition to attending such a conference, thought up by Greek Foreign Minister Nicos Kotzias, with which the Turkish side appears to have taken particular offence, was communist Akel, which called for an immediate stop to the burgeoning blame-game.
“Akel is in no rush to come to conclusions or make assessments as to what went wrong and a deal on territory was not clinched,” party spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said.
“For that, we will wait until the President briefs us. At this stage, we believe that the object is to resume negotiations, and this cannot be brought about by blaming each other.”
As announced, Stefanou added, Akel will take specific initiatives aimed at resuming negotiations.
For Diko, the priority at this crucial time is “full transparency and the end to the blackout”.
“Diko strongly believes that talks on territory must continue, in Cyprus,” MP Christiana Erotokritou said.
“We reject the Turkish side’s, and unfortunately the UN’s, efforts to give the impression that there is a deadline that has been missed because talks on territory fell apart.”
Diko called on Anastasiades and all parties to support and buttress Kotzias’ “robust position and stance”, that the “abolishing of outdated and dangerous guarantee arrangements and the full withdrawal of Turkish troops” from Cyprus are preconditions to convening an international conference on the Cyprus problem.
Socialists Edek said Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci proved himself to be the best conduit for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s “Islamofascist regime”.
“Cyprus-problem negotiations should now focus on issues touching on international aspects,” spokeswoman Maria Panayiotou said.
“The National Council should meet with the Greek leadership (the President, the Prime Minister, and the foreign minister) in order to coordinate further action.”
Presumably in response to press reports citing Kotzias’ public statements on guarantees as one of the main reasons for the breakdown in talks, the Citizens’ Alliance said such claims “hurt our national cause”.
“Those who attempt to cover up the intransigence of Turkey and Mr Akinci by assigning blame on the Greek government are doing great injustice to our national cause,” spokesman Constantinos Filaretou said.
“Cyprus asked the Greek government to denounce guarantees, and it is inconceivable for some to ask it to back down.”
Solidarity’s spokesman Yiannis Selinopoulos said Anastasiades’ strategy has “failed miserably”.
“We wonder what reason we have to return to the negotiating table if there is no dramatic shift in the Turkish stance,” he said.
“A new strategy must be hammered out jointly, one that will incur real costs for Turkey and keep the Republic of Cyprus alive.”
