President opposes diversion from July agreement

Any attempt to divert efforts towards a settlement in Cyprus from the process, based on the July agreement between the leaders of the island’s two communities, is tantamount to questioning the credibility and the effectiveness of efforts to implement the agreement, President Tassos Papadopoulos has stressed, reiterating his firm position that he has no intention of signing any kind of a solution to “close” the question of Cyprus.
He also said that the issue of missing persons in Cyprus is and will remain a priority in terms of interest and effort to resolve it, adding that this purely humanitarian matter has no political dimension whatsoever.
“An unfair and imbalanced settlement will merely act as an illusion of a solution, something which will be disastrous for the country,” he said as he unveiled a bust in honour of Takis Panayiotou who is missing since the 1974 Turkish invasion and Savas Antoniades who was killed during hostilities in the summer of ’74.
The President said it is self-evident that the continuation of the current deadlock encompasses risks which favour the gradual upgrading of the illegal Turkish Cypriot regime, in the occupied areas.
He dismissed suggestions that the only alternative is to accept procedures and proposals leading to a solution with two separate legal entities in Cyprus, as such a prospect will definitely lead to division and two separate states.
The July 8 agreement, reached between himself and the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community Mehmet Ali Talat, provides for talks between their aides on day to day issues as well as substantive aspects of the Cyprus question. It also provides for meetings between the leaders, which have to be well prepared to help lead to substantive negotiations.
“Any diversion from this procedure, any other move towards another direction, means doubting the credibility and the effectiveness of efforts made towards implementation of an agreement, which the UN have concluded at our initiative. We remain committed to this agreement and consistent with it,” he said.
On continuing efforts to ascertain the fate of missing persons, the President had this to say: “I can assure you that our efforts will continue unabated and will intensify to establish the fate of each and every missing person.”
This issue, he added, is “for me and the state a priority in relation to interest shown and efforts made and it will remain a priority until it is fully resolved.”
Papadopoulos acknowledged that not a lot is said in public about the work done but much more is done to lead this issue to its resolution.
“Uncertainty about the fate of our missing persons, as well as other tragic aspects of the Cyprus problem, is linked to a correct political settlement and we cannot have a correct settlement without a correct resolution of this humanitarian issue,” he concluded.