Akel proposal ‘the final mile’ for Cyprus problem

The reunification of Cyprus and its people is the enduring priority for Akel, party leader Stefanos Stefanou said on Sunday.

There is no longer any doubt that the passage of time favours Turkey’s partitionist plans, he added.

Akel submitted a comprehensive proposal on how the Greek Cypriot side, and the Republic of Cyprus in general, should conduct itself with the aim of breaking the deadlock and resuming negotiations at the last session of the National Council.

“This year marks 50 years since the betrayal of the treacherous coup and the crime of the Turkish invasion,” he said at a memorial service in Pervolia.

Today, 50 years later, he added, “we are living through the longest period of stagnation on the Cyprus problem. The Turkish side has now officially moved to a two-state solution and Turkey is taking advantage of the stagnation to reinforce the de facto partition on the ground by provoking new faits accomplis.

“There is no longer any doubt that the passage of time favours Turkey’s partitionist plans.”

Akel, he said, has no doubt that partition threatens the future of the country and its people, both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.

The party’s proposal is based on sticking to the agreed basis for a solution based on a bicommunal, bizonal federation with political equality, on the continuation of negotiations from the point where they were interrupted in 2017 on the basis of the Guterres Framework.

It is also based on the formulation of a positive agenda towards Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot community and unilateral measures for the benefit of Turkish Cypriots.

“We do not claim that our proposal will automatically and necessarily lead to positive developments,” Stefanou added, but “it can, however, test Turkish intentions. If our proposals are accepted, we will be able to go the last mile, as the UN Secretary General stated, and achieve a solution that will end the Turkish occupation and reunite our country and our people.”