Akel calls for immediate resumption of Cyprus talks (Updated)

Opposition Akel on Monday called for an immediate resumption of Cyprus talks in a memorandum presented to the UN as part of an event in Dherynia to mark the second wave of the Turkish invasion on August 14, 1974.

Akel general-secretary Stefanos Stefanou, after laying a wreath at the memorial to the fallen and the missing in the buffer-zone town’s main square, handed a memorandum to UN personnel to be delivered to the Secretary-General.

“On such a day, the first thing that comes to mind is the betrayal committed against Cyprus which began with the fascist coup of the Athens Junta and Eoka B which opened the back door for Turkey to invade,” Stefanou said in his speech.

“The coup not only opened the door to Turkey, but also made it easier for Turkey to land in Cyprus and create a bridgehead in the first critical hours.”

In its resolution, Akel calls for the immediate resumption of talks on the Cyprus issue, under the auspices of the UN, from the point where they stopped in Crans-Montana in 2017.

“We ask the Secretary General of the UN to move in this exact direction in order to revive the peace process in the Cyprus conflict,” the resolution said.

The party also condemned the continued occupation and division imposed by force of arms by Turkey and said that the second wave of the invasion “confirmed that Turkey never had the goal of restoring the constitutional order in Cyprus, nor the protection of the Turkish Cypriots, but the partition of Cyprus”.

“We denounce the fact that Turkey refuses to this day to comply with UN Security Council Resolutions 550 and 789 on Famagusta, which provide for the return of legal residents under UN interim administration before a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem,” the memorandum said.

“On the contrary, the occupying power, disregarding the relevant resolutions and the repeated appeals of the international community, is proceeding with a gradual “opening” of the enclosed city of Famagusta with the aim of illegally colonising the fenced area and/or returning the legal residents of the area under military conditions. Possession.”

It added that the international community was showing an inexplicable tolerance for these illegal actions and “following a blatant practice of double standards, is proceeding with the geopolitical upgrading of Turkey”.

“We call on Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot leadership to abandon the policy of partition and work together for a solution to the Cypriot conflict, reuniting the island, based on UN parameters,” the memo said.

“We call on the UN to reject and denounce any attempt to subvert the basis of the Cyprus solution as determined by the relevant resolutions of the organisation.”