Cyprus FM calls for ‘meaningful negotiations’
By Gina Agapiou

Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos emphasised the need for meaningful negotiations to resolve the Cyprus issue, during his address at the 39th PSEKA Conference in Washington DC

He underscored the importance of a settlement based on “the agreed framework of a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality, as defined by the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions and with full respect of the principles and values of the EU.”

Kombos warned against any alternative solutions, stating, “anything else belongs in the realm of illegality and would create a dangerous precedent for the international community as a whole.”

He reaffirmed Cyprus’s support for the UN Secretary-General’s personal envoy and assured attendees that both he and President Christodoulides are committed to working with realism and determination towards a viable solution to the Cyprus problem.

“We stand ready to engage in meaningful negotiations with the aim of finding a viable and lasting solution”

Addressing participants at the PSEKA Conference on Tuesday, the minister said that they comprise the “point of contact with the American society and the US Administration. With the most powerful country in the world.”

On the sidelines of the conference Kombos inaugurated a Photographic Exhibition regarding the 50th anniversary since the 1974 illegal Turkish invasion and occupation of Cyprus.

The exhibition, featuring images from the archives of the Press and Information Office in Nicosia, offers a “mosaic of the collective memory of the devastation, of the suffering of our people,” according to Kombos.

He reminded the 50th anniversary of the Turkish invasion in 39 days and said that “We do not forget. We have a duty not to forget.”

The exhibition, which debuted in Washington DC, is set to travel globally through the network of Cypriot Diplomatic Missions. The collection includes over 100 photographs, some of which are being displayed publicly for the first time.

“They are dominated by the faces of the summer of 1974.  No matter how many years have passed, no matter where we are, they remain the unshakable point of reference for every Cypriot, for every Greek” he said.

Reflecting on the ongoing impact of the Turkish occupation, Kombos said that Cyprus, and its people, continue to experience the Turkish occupation and division, in violation of their basic human rights, “in full contempt of public International Law and against any notion of the values guiding the International Community. 

“Fifty years of Turkish occupation is enough.  And, it must end. Our steadfast goal remains the reunification of Cyprus,” he stressed.