Christofias hits back at Turkish criticism of Moscow trip

CYPRUS will not renounce its sovereign rights, and international relations are within those rights, President Demetris Christofias said yesterday.

He was responding to Turkish Cypriot criticism of his Moscow visit and of a joint declaration signed between Christofias and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev on the Cyprus issue.

“The Republic of Cyprus is an independent state,” Christofias said. Its “only problem is that the lawful government cannot exercise sovereignty in the whole domain because Turkey… occupies 37 per cent of Cypriot territory.”

Christofias said there was no way Cyprus would “renounce its sovereign rights, and relations between states” are among those rights.

The Turkish Cypriots accused Christofias that through the joint declaration he was trying to change the principles agreed between him and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat.

The president stressed that Turkish Cypriot interests were not hurt at all by such visits or declarations.

In the joint declaration, Moscow and Nicosia reaffirmed the need for a comprehensive, just and viable settlement in Cyprus on the basis of UN resolutions.

“The Russian Federation, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, will continue to support a mutually agreed solution between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities, without arbitration or artificial timeframes, which will secure at the same time the Cypriot ownership of the negotiating process,” the declaration said.

The president pointed out that it was wrong for anyone to think that it would be possible to settle the Cyprus problem by imposing a solution that would serve the interests of Turkey or any other foreign state.

Christofias said he was concerned by the Turkish Cypriot reactions and suggested that Turkey was behind them.

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