By Jean Christou
AFTER two days of talks at the National Council, President Nicos Anastasiades was mulling the creation of a subcommittee codifying all of the views- dissenting and otherwise – of the political parties.
Speaking after the session concluded on Thursday, government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides said Anastasiades had listened carefully to the views and concerns of the party leaders but made it clear to them that a solution would be based on a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation as defined in UN resolutions, the High Level Agreements of 1977, the agreement of July 8, 2006, and the Joint Declaration of February 11, 2014.
“The president… out of respect for the suggestions that were submitted [by the parties] was inclined toward the creation of a subcommittee, with the participation of the parties, for the codification of the positions and the proposals that have been registered,” Christodoulides said.
Asked whether the president would take into consideration some of the positions presented to him on the handling of the Cyprus problem, the spokesman said: “This is the idea… to have a subcommittee established for the codification of the views and suggestions that were registered. Some constructive suggestions were submitted, but there were also disagreements.”
He said the palace felt obliged to “tell this to the people of Cyprus”.
“There was a discussion of the Cyprus problem, an issue that concerns all the people of Cyprus and I am of the opinion that we all have an obligation to be honest to the people of Cyprus with regard to our positions for the achievement of the objective of a solution to the Cyprus problem,” he added.
He said over the two days, the parties had the opportunity to explain their concerns and their positions with regard to the strategy and tactics on the handling of the negotiations and to find a way to “bend Turkish intransigence”.
Cyprus negotiations have been stalled since the Greek Cypriot side withdrew last October when Turkey issued a navigational telex (NAVTEX) for seismic explorations in the island’s exclusive economic zone. A second NAVTEX was issued in January, to run until April 6 though there have been no more EEZ violations since December 30.
Main opposition parties AKEL and DIKO said on Thursday after the meeting that they had handed over documents detailing their concerns on the handling of the Cyprus issue.
DIKO leader Nicolas Papadopoulos said there was a need for a “strategic change”.
“We believe the policy of the ‘good child’ has failed miserably,” he said.
AKEL’s Andros Kyprianou said the party was ready to hear any proposal which would bring a solution closer. “Clearly there are disagreements between us but what is important is that the president takes his own decisions and acts consistently with regard to achieving the objectives he sets,” he added.
“We gave our strategic objective, which is the one that binds us since 1977. We have given our own interpretation on what the content of a solution should be and our approach. I am not suggesting we return to the negotiating table under threat of blackmail, but we should take initiatives to convince [the international community] that we are the ones in the right and that they should turn their attention to Turkey.”
