“The cooperation of our governments within the EU and the UN is excellent. We discussed Greek-Turkish relations and the informal five-party meeting on the Cyprus issue,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Wednesday in joint statements that followed his meeting with the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades, at the Maximos Mansion.
In terms of Greek-Turkish relations, Mitsotakis noted that the Greek side wants “open channels of communication without provocations and aggressive actions,” adding that “Athens remains open without being naive.”
“We insisted on the need for the EU to participate, so [the meeting] is transformed into five plus one,” he said, pointing out that “overall, the Union must insist on the credible implementation of its dual-approach policy towards Turkey. We welcomed the Borrell report, we stressed the need for the conclusions to move in the same spirit.”
In the Southeastern Mediterranean, Turkey has withdrawn its research ships, Mitsotakis said. “This fact is not insignificant, it remains to be seen if it will last. It is up to Turkey to prove whether it is an honest approach or a misleading manoeuvre. Whether it will follow the path of international law or whether it will follow delinquency. That choice will have consequences.”
“The demands for a two-state solution are outside the EU framework,” the Greek prime minister said, adding: “Our common position is the abolition of anachronistic guarantees and the removal of the occupying forces.”
On his part the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades, said: “I am really moved and honoured to be in the Greek capital after the invitation to celebrate together and honour the Greek people, 200 years after the beginning of the liberation struggle of 1821.”
He spoke of “a struggle from which Cyprus did not abstain but actively participated in, suffered sacrifices but also from which it was inspired to rid itself of the same yoke 46 years later. Not only for Hellenism on Cyprus but also for our Turkish Cypriot compatriots.”
“What we seek and have found together is that a fair and sustainable but highly functional solution to the Cyprus problem will ensure the interests of the entire Cypriot people, whether Greek Cypriots or Turkish Cypriots. Besides, it is well known that we have lived together peacefully for centuries, we have co-created and, unfortunately, what happened has led to a state of affairs that does not so much concern the interests of the Turkish Cypriots but those of a specific force, namely Turkey”, underlined the Cyprus president.
He described the meeting with Mitsotakis as absolutely creative and he said: “There were two issues: the informal conference to be held in Geneva on April 27-29 and the forthcoming European Council, in order to coordinate and take joint action.”
He stressed that the aim is, on the one hand, to ensure the success of the conference, which would mean the creation of the necessary conditions to give the Secretary General the opportunity to convene a new meeting on Cyprus that would lead us to a solution as described in the joint statements of both leaders (with the presence of the Secretary General on November 25, 2019 in Berlin), a position that coincides with Cyprus long-standing positions and does not depart from the United Nations resolutions for the transformation of the Republic of Cyprus into a functioning and viable state, which at the same time will not deviate from the basic principles of the EU.
