Two keys to unlock Cyprus impasse, says Demetriades

There were two keys to unlock the five-year deadlock in the Cyprus problem, said independent presidential candidate Achilleas Demetriades – natural gas and European-Turkish relations.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had changed the political landscape in the continent, which was depending on Russian gas. Cyprus should align itself with European interests, making use of the new alliances on natural gas in the eastern Mediterranean which would become a catalyst for the Cyprus issue, he said.

In parallel, there should be further discussion of the new European-Turkish relations (customs union, migration, visas), setting the solution of the Cyprus problem as a pre-requisite.

During the news conference he gave on Monday, to mark the black anniversaries of July, he said the country needed new faces, a change of direction and leaders who dare to take difficult decisions.

“Anger alone is not enough, we need the will and a plan of action, we need a change of course, we need to move forward and we need leaders who are not afraid to speak out and take bold decisions,” he said.

Referring to the paralysis of the talks, in the last five years, he said President Anastasiades and his close associates had huge responsibility for today’s impasse, with their brainwaves about two states and the return to the constitution of 1960.

“I remind that at Crans Montana we were on the verge, just ‘a whisker’ away from a settlement, and now we are on the verge of partition. This is the result of their handling, with Turkish intransigence having as an alibi our inaction and our untrustworthiness,” Demetriades said.

He also took a dig at rival candidates – Nicos Christodoulides and Andreas Mavroyiannis – who were with Anastasiades at the talks in Crans Montana. “Those that rendered Cyprus untrustworthy cannot restore its trustworthiness,” he said.