The consultations carried out by Jane Hall Lute, the UN Secretary-General’s envoy on Cyprus, will determine whether all interested parties desire a settlement to the Cyprus problem, Foreign Minister Nicos Christodoulides said on Sunday.
Speaking to the press after attending a commemoration ceremony in Paphos, Christodoulides said that the Greek Cypriot side is not interested neither in impressions nor blame game.
Following the collapse of the UN-sponsored talks on the Cyprus problem in Crans Montana, Switzerland, in July 2017, the UN SG Antonio Guterres appointed Lute to explore the positions of all interested parties on the way forward. Lute will then brief Guterres who will decide whether to call for a new round of talks.
This process, Christodoulides said, “will determine whether all of us really wish for the resumption of the talks from where they left off in Crans Montana that would lead us to a solution to the Cyprus problem.”
Lute has already met with President Nicos Anastasiades, Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafara Akinci and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavosoglu, the Turkish Foreign Minister.
Noting we should wait for the conclusion of Lute’s meetings, Christodoulides pointed out that this process “will determine whether all of us desire a solution to the Cyprus problem.”
“The prospects for the resumption of talks could be created if everybody responds in the way President Anastasiades responded during his meeting with Lute,” he said.
“Our attention is focused there hoping for a result,” he went on to say, adding that President Anastasiades will meet with Guterres in the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in the end of September.
Invited to comment on threats expressed by Cavusloglu in an interview with the Greek daily “Ta Nea”, concerning the developments in the field of energy, Christodoulides said “threats wherever they come from is a sign of weakness.”
“We will not act through threats nor grand statements or impressive moves but we will continue with the unobstructed implementation of our energy plans and nothing more,” Christodoulides concluded.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded and occupied 37 per cent of its territory.
