President Nicos Anastasiades is seeking a meeting with the United Nations Secretary-General in September in New York as Cyprus talks remain deadlocked after fives years of limbo.
“There are already steps being taken for a meeting with the Secretary-General, and of course, the purpose of the meeting is only to convey the need to implement what is agreed upon by the Secretary-General”.
He added there was no news from Miroslav Jenca, the UN Assistant Secretary-General in Cyprus.
“As long as Turkey objects, unfortunately, there is a retreat from the decisions of the United Nations, and that makes me particularly sad.”
On the latest gas finding in the Cypriot EEZ, the President said: “The Republic of Cyprus, despite the threats of Turkey, despite what is recorded with the violations of our Exclusive Economic Zone, continues to implement its energy program”.
He added that ENI continues drilling in a target adjacent to the recent finding in the presence of an Italian navy vessel.
“As planned, both Total and Qatar Petroleum will proceed with research; they are already conducting seismic research”.
He added that what’s left was to include Cyprus in the EU planning to wean itself off Russian gas.
In his speech at a memorial service, President Anastasiades said that Turkey, while filing its proposals on April 25, 2021, before the UNSG, was officially claiming a solution based on two states, raising the request officially for the first time for the partition of Cyprus.
“We have not accepted (the solution of two states), we are not going to succumb, and we must not succumb.
He argued that accepting a similar solution means opening a “Pandora’s box” because many European states will face similar challenges and problems.
“The highest priority throughout my political career… is the solution of the Cyprus problem peacefully and end the unacceptable status quo…for justice to prevail in Cyprus, for the occupation troops to withdraw, to end the anachronistic system of guarantees”.
There have been no UN-back Cyprus peace talks since they collapsed in Switzerland in July 2017.
