Cyprus sees parallels between 1974, Ukraine invasion

It is time the international community drew parallels between the Cyprus problem and what is happening in Ukraine, said Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday after meeting foreign diplomats, he said the annual event was about efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem, but Urkaine hugged the agenda.

The problem in Ukraine, he said, provides an opportunity for Cyprus to “get back to basics”.

“Cyprus is a problem of invasion and occupation…violation of the territorial integrity, sovereignty, unity and independence of a country member of the United Nations, as is happening today with Ukraine.

“Therefore, it is time for this parallelism to bring back the attention of the international community to what happened since 1974 and is still going on for 48 years.”

Regarding the UN resolution for the renewal of the mandate of UNFICYP, the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, Kasoulides, said it is a positive development that a phrase welcoming the proposals of both leaders was avoided, describing it as unjustified.

He explained that the other side’s proposal had not been forwarded when the resolution was drafted.

Although he expected some movement on confidence-building measures in the summer, this hasn’t happened.

Kasoulides said he had received some positive and encouraging messages, but relations between Greece and Turkey worsened, and this development diverted attention from this effort.