House President says extremely difficult to negotiate with the Turkish Cypriot leader

House President, Demetris Syllouris, said on Sunday that the efforts made by the Greek Cypriot side to negotiate with the Turkish Cypriot leader “who has been acting as the mouthpiece of the government in Ankara” constitute an extremely difficult process.

In his address at a memorial service for the policemen and volunteers killed during the intercommunal strife of 1963-1964, Syllouris said that “the provocative and exaggerated demands of Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot leadership, as well as behaviours aiming at dividing the population of Cyprus and legitimising unlawful acts as a fait accompli, show that achieving a just solution to the Cyprus issue is something impossible”.

He stressed the need for the Greek Cypriot side “to pursue at least a functional settlement for the state and its citizens, that will be based on the European principles and values, the acquis communautaire, the democratic principles, respecting the human rights of every Cypriot citizen.”

Syllouris also said that history has proven that Turkey is in every way trying to dominate Cyprus at the political and geostrategic levels.

He also said that Turkey has always been operating on the basis of its expansionary plans aimed at breaking up the Republic of Cyprus and taking full control of the island. Turkey, he said, has been encouraging extreme nationalism and feelings of intolerance among the Turkish Cypriot population.

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.