Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis will brief party representatives on Monday regarding the results from the Five-Party Conference on Cyprus held at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
All developments on the Cyprus issue
The Greek side expressed satisfaction with the consultations, despite the fact that there were no concrete results toward resolving the Cyprus issue. President of the Republic of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides attributed the meager results of the conference to the absence of “necessary political will” from the Turkish Cypriot side, which according to diplomatic sources speaking to parapolitika.gr was something expected. Nevertheless, Christodoulides highlighted the “small but significant progress, step by step, toward the direction of the great goal” which is the resolution of the Cyprus issue.
The rigidity of the Turkish position regarding two equal states in Cyprus was recorded once again at the United Nations, while Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oncu Keceli rushed to emphasize this with a statement he issued. “This mentality of the Greek Cypriot side clearly demonstrates why a solution to the Cyprus issue different from Ersin Tatar’s vision for a ‘two-state’ solution is impossible,” he noted, characterizing the Greek Cypriot side’s stance as “incompatible.”
In this context, Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis focused on the fact that it is “extremely significant that the Cyprus issue is at the top of Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ agenda,” while simultaneously noting that “the message for a unified Cyprus is necessary today in a world experiencing civil conflicts, wars, and a high level of intolerance.”
For his part, the Secretary-General appeared satisfied with the progress recorded in six Confidence Building Measures that had been agreed upon last March in Geneva.
Gerapetritis briefs the National Foreign Policy Council
On Monday, at the Foreign Ministry, Gerapetritis will brief the members of the National Foreign Policy Council on the developments recorded at the UN headquarters. However, according to information, party representatives are expected to request briefings from Gerapetritis on other issues as well, mainly regarding developments on the Libya front and the course of Greek-Turkish relations as they are shaped after recent developments. Moreover, the Greek Foreign Minister had the opportunity to meet in New York, on the sidelines of the Five-Party Conference, with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and spoke with him. As he later stated, their conversation was limited exclusively to the Cyprus issue.
A new trilateral meeting is scheduled for September, while the elections scheduled for next October in the occupied territories, where Ersin Tatar will run for re-election, are expected to play a decisive role in developments. Whether he will be re-elected will depend mainly on Turkey’s wishes, which so far appears positive toward him.
