Bicommunal group says notion of ‘decentralisation’ should be nixed

The Cyprus Chapter of the Greek Turkish Forum (GTF) has said it welcomes the ongoing efforts for the resumption of negotiations in Cyprus with a “terms of reference”.

The group said the terms of reference, which must be set by the leaders by the end of the year,  should reflect the statements of the UNSG, and should entail a result-oriented process which is not open-ended but is aimed exclusively at agreeing to terms for a bi-communal,  and bi-zonal federal republic.

“Recent discussions on ‘decentralised’ or other variations of federation should not obscure the essence of the settlement sought to entail federalism and political equality,” it said in a statement.

The group said much was at stake and that in recent months the United Nations had been prompted to reflect on its commitment to Cyprus, both in terms of its Good Offices services and regarding the extension of the Unficyp peacekeeping mandate.

“Moreover, disputes over the extraction of fossil fuels from the Mediterranean basin pose a threat to the interests of all parties concerned and have regional implications,” the GTF said.

The Cyprus Chapter of the GTF also welcomed the opening on November 12 of the two new crossing points, Dherynia and Apliki, as well as the initiatives to implement other confidence building measures (CBM) already agreed.

It also considers that the success of a new round of negotiations would require greater engagement of civil society and the wider public, especially women and youth to help build confidence in a solution as well as a new series of CBMs.

 

 

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