Turkey’s long-term designs and Ankara’s intransigence bear the exclusive responsibility for the absence of a political settlement in Cyprus, President Tassos Papadopoulos has said, pointing out that the Turkish Cypriots also have a share of responsibility for the lack of a solution.
Speaking at a televised interview on Tuesday night, he dismissed any suggestion of external arbitration, in the search for a settlement, saying he was wrong to have accepted in February 2004 UN arbitration in the ongoing negotiations at the time.
“Our fundamental goal is to revoke the Turkish occupation of part of our country, to avoid division, either on the ground or through any plan which might directly or indirectly impose it,†he said, noting that European Union decisions and UN resolutions provide the values and principles on which a solution must be based.
He said the aim is to adopt such policies and follow such strategy that would cause Turkey to sustain a political cost as a result of its positions on Cyprus.
“What we are seeking to achieve is for Turkey to be convinced or to feel pressure in order to realize that a just and functional Cyprus solution will serve not only the interests of the Cypriots but also its own interests as well, in addition to safeguarding stability and security in this sensitive region of the Mediterranean and paving the way for relations between Turkey and Cyprus and Turkey and the EU,†he added.
On the prospects of a solution, the President had this to say: “is there anybody who believes that we can solve the question of Cyprus on our own or that the Greek Cypriot side is responsible for the absence of a solution?â€
“Turkish intransigence and Turkey’s long-term designs on Cyprus bear the exclusive responsibility for the absence of a solution. It is difficult, not to say impossible, to predict when a solution will come and I want to say that I am not promoting a settlement in the long run,†he stressed.
Responding to questions, he said that the people of Cyprus have the democratic right to express an opinion on any proposed solution and reiterated his adherence to a bizonal bicommunal federal settlement.
“The term bicommunal is defined internationally more or less but the notion of bizonality as a constitutional concept does not exist and we do not accept that it has the meaning of ethnically clear regions,†he explained, responding to other questions about the kind of solution he is seeking.
All this, he continued, must be the object of discussion at talks between the two communities.
He also said that the only process available today that could lead to substantive negotiations towards a settlement is the UN-brokered agreement, between himself and the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community.
On his presidential bid for reelection, the President appeared optimistic that he will be in the second round of the elections, in February next year and said that he is not in a position to influence voters in his former party, the Democratic Party.
