Nicosia: Cyprus President Nicos Christodoulides said on Saturday that ending the Turkish occupation and reunifying the island is "not an utopia but an achievable goal," expressing optimism that recent diplomatic developments have created the conditions for the resumption of substantive negotiations on the Cyprus issue.
According to Cyprus News Agency, addressing an anti-occupation event organised by the Municipality of Famagusta in Dherynia, the President said that, 'despite the passage of 52 years since the 1974 Turkish invasion, the occupied town of Famagusta, along with Kyrenia, Morphou, Karpasia and all occupied towns and villages, has never been absent from the aspirations of the Cypriot people'.
Christodoulides said the sight of the abandoned city of Famagusta continues to evoke feelings of injustice, pain and anger, but stressed that these emotions strengthen the determination to end the occupation, reunify the country and secure a viable settlement.
The President described the recent visit of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to Cyprus, the first by a UN chief in 16 years, as a particularly significant development demonstrating the Secretary-General's personal commitment to finding a solution based on UN Security Council resolutions. He said 'Guterres' public statements in Cyprus and later in New York had reaffirmed that the ongoing effort remains firmly anchored in the agreed UN framework, including the convergences achieved during previous negotiations and the framework presented at Crans Montana'.
According to Christodoulides, the Secretary-General's remarks also dispelled claims that the international community was considering a two-state solution or alternatives outside the agreed negotiating framework. He noted that, 'for the first time publicly, Guterres explicitly referred to the negotiating acquis, including the convergences reached in previous rounds of talks'.
The President revealed that 'the United Nations has already engaged a constitutional expert who participated in the previous negotiation process to assist with the technical preparations ahead of the next phase'. He said this preparatory work had already begun with the Greek Cypriot side and expressed confidence that similar work was also underway with the other parties involved.
He added that 'the entire month of August would be devoted to technical preparations aimed at ensuring the success of a new expanded meeting on Cyprus'. The objective of that meeting, he said, is not merely to convene discussions 'but to announce the resumption of negotiations from where they were suspended at Crans-Montana and, in the words of the UN Secretary-General, "walk the last mile" towards a settlement'.
Christodoulides said Guterres had secured the consent of all parties for the convening of a new expanded conference following appropriate preparatory work, stressing that the Greek Cypriot side also wanted to avoid another inconclusive meeting that could create momentum for proposals outside the agreed basis for a solution.
Acknowledging that the negotiations remain difficult, the President said he was fully aware of the obstacles and challenges ahead but maintained that the current situation differs substantially from that of March 2023, when his administration took office. He recalled that, at the time, even arranging a meeting with the Turkish Cypriot leadership appeared difficult and there was limited international engagement with the Cyprus issue.
He argued that the diplomatic initiatives undertaken over the past three years have helped remove the Cyprus problem from years of stagnation and have created realistic prospects for ending what he described as the island's illegal status quo.
Christodoulides also underlined the increasingly active role of the European Union, referring to the linkage between EU-Turkey relations and developments on the Cyprus issue, as reflected in European Council conclusions, as well as the appointment of European Commission Executive Vice-President Raffaele Fitto as the EU's Special Envoy for Cyprus. 'These developments', he said, 'demonstrate that the EU is no longer a passive observer but is prepared to use all available instruments to support a mutually beneficial settlement'.
Reiterating his commitment to a solution based on a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality, in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions and EU principles, the President said the Greek Cypriot side is fully prepared to resume negotiations immediately.
He also stressed that the return of Famagusta remains a realistic objective and could serve as a tangible confidence-building measure capable of facilitating broader progress towards a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results due to Turkish intransigence. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, whose term nears its end, announced he would convene another meeting in broader format, after adequate preparation, but gave no timeline. He secured to that end the consensus of both sides and of the guarantor powers. Mara Angela Holgun, Guterres' Personal Envoy on Cyprus, is tasked to engage with the parties. Executive Vice-President Raffaele Fitto acts as the European Commission's Special Representative for Cyprus, succeeding EU special envoy Johannes Hahn.