Foreign minister highlights key to restarting talks

The 3+1 Mechanism is the key to expanding the agenda and ensuring the acceleration of the cooperation process, Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said at the Eastern Mediterranean Business Summit in New York, ahead of his meeting with UN officials.

He added that the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been invited to the next tripartite of the ministers of Cyprus, Greece and Israel.

During his speech on the strengthening of the 3+1 Alliance on Monday, Kombos also referred to the Cyprus issue and the president’s initiative for the resumption of negotiations, from the point they were left-off in Crans-Montana.

“For us, the Cyprus question is an existential matter and we sincerely believe that we don’t have any more time to waste. We have taken the initiative trying to resume the negotiations from the point where they left-off in Crans-Montana in 2017. In that direction we have tried, we have spent time, diplomatic effort, diplomatic capital to put the Cyprus question back on the agenda,” he said.

Asked how he expects relations with Turkey to develop over the next year, the key issues on the agenda and whether there is any prospect of a resumption of UN-led negotiations, he said that “there are no certainties with Turkey”.

“We all have to wait and see how they will react to our initiative, how the United Nations will position itself in relation to this. We want to remain optimistic that negotiations will at some point resume.”

He noted that “Turkey has a decision to make, and we are going to try and create a condition so we are back to the negotiation table.”

Replying to a question as to how Cyprus’ relations with the USA can be deepened, Kombos said Cyprus had proven to be a loyal, trustworthy ally of the United States.

“This is a relationship we have proved our intentions, whether that is Ukraine, whether that is our response to the secondary sanctions imposed by the UK and United States, on a number of fronts. We believe that the time is right for a positive signalling from the United States. The arms embargo and the visa waiver are two issues that are, in our agenda, at the very top.”

In his speech, Kombos described the Eastern Mediterranean as “a region of endurance inhabited by survivors”.

“I cannot imagine any other part of the world with such complex history, traumas and in a constant state of a looming crisis from remaining relevant and full of such potential. The future, through a win-win vision, dialogue and cooperation is bright,” he added.

On Tuesday, Kombos is expected to meet the UNSG Antonio Guterres, while he will also have separate meetings with the UN Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, as well as the Acting Secretary General of Political Affairs, Rosemary Di Carlo.

The minister will conclude his contacts at the UN headquarters with a meeting on Wednesday with the Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, Miguel de Sherpa Soares.

As part of his visit to New York, Kombos will also meet with representatives of the diaspora, as well as with leaders of the American-Jewish organisations American Jewish Committee (AJC) and American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac).

The foreign minister returns to Cyprus on Thursday.