President Anastasiades is ready for a solution

The President of the Republic, Mr. Nicos Anastasiades, sent a letter last week to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres underlining his readiness for a solution to the Cyprus problem.

According to a report by Kathimerini reporter Marina Economidou, the letter stated that President Anastasiades was open to talks with the UN Secretary General and all involved parties to discuss a Cyprus solution based on a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation with political equality, similar to what was laid out in Cyprus’ constitution in the 1960’s. The talks would also underscore the declarations made between President Anastasiades and Dervis Eroglu on the 11th of February 2014.

The letter also welcomed the appointment of a special envoy on the Cyprus issue, which was expressed by Antonio Guterres during the last conference in Geneva. A move that was not welcomed by the Turkish side.

The date set  for the requested meeting, however, is still in limbo due to the fact that relations between the 2 leaders, President Anastasiades and Ersin Tatar are not good and further preparations still need to be done before the talks can restart. Antonio Guterres has emphasized that he will not proceed with another meeting that will lead to failure.

Furthermore, a report by UK Foreign Office representative Ajay Sharma outlining 6 points for the resumption of talks was not accepted by Greek negotiator Andreas Mavrogiannis owing to the fact that the Secretary General’s report had already attempted to include them and also provoked a huge reaction from Nicosia.  But according to Mr. Sharma, there has to be an understanding before talks can resume. The points in question are the following:
• Equal rights
• Co-founders
• Co-owners
• Self-governing entities
• Neither entity will dominate the other
• Two states internally and one externally.

The 76th session of the UN General Assembly is scheduled to begin on the 14th of September and will end on the 21st of September 2021. President Anastasiades is scheduled to leave for New York on the 18th of September.