Kombos: Cyprus ready for talks, Turkish side imposing conditions

Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said on Thursday that President Nikos Christodoulides is ready to start talks on the Cyprus problem immediately.

Speaking at a conference reviewing the ministry’s one-year achievements, Kombos noted that it is the Turkish Cypriot side that is imposing conditions on the commencement of Cyprus talks.

Kombos emphasized that Christodoulides is willing to engage in discussions with either Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, or both.

“We have nothing to hide; on the contrary, we wish to find a way to proceed to a meaningful negotiation. And the way to get there is through dialogue,” Kombos said, adding the Turkish Cypriot side is setting conditions even for a social meeting.

The primary objective, Kombos reiterated, is to achieve a solution based on a bizonal bicommunal federation with political equality, as outlined in UN resolutions. However, he cautioned against adopting a middle-ground approach to break the deadlock, labelling it as risky and unlawful.

Kombos added that one side is starting with from within the framework of the UN Security Council resolutions, while the other side is attempting to start talks outside the parameters of the UN resolutions.

He mentioned the appointment of UN Secretary-General’s personal envoy Maria Holguin and ongoing efforts to appoint an EU envoy, stressing the interconnectedness of EU-Turkey relations with the Cyprus problem.

On the efforts to upgrade or give the impression of upgrading the ‘TRNC’, Kombos referred to “intrusion into the Organisation of Turkic States”, saying that there is an ongoing attempt to prevent the ratification of the 2022 Samarkand Agreement’s amending protocol, which includes an amendment to the article of the Nakhichevan Agreement to accept the ‘TRNC’ as an entity with observer status, while at the same time inviting the breakaway regime to meetings of that organisation.

“It should be mentioned here that despite non-ratification, in cases where the host country was Turkey or Azerbaijan, the illegal secessionist entity was invited. In other cases, it was prevented despite Turkey’s suffocating pressure. It must be understood that the Organisation has partly become a special purpose vehicle. The environment is one of considerable Turkish influence and these make our efforts difficult. Nevertheless, this effort will continue with undiminished intensity,” he said.

He highlighted Spain and Poland’s withdrawal from the June 2023 Anatolian Phoenix exercise following representations.

Regarding the issue of usurpation of Greek Cypriot properties in the north, Kombos said that the ministry has formulated a response plan which has been implemented in cooperation with competent authorities and services and includes various phases.

“For the first time, an approach has been formulated that aims to create insecurity among participants in the chain of usurpation of Greek Cypriot properties in the occupied territories,” he said.