South Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades, who suspended the Cyprus negotiations, has responded to a statement made by Turkish Cypriot President Dervis Eroglu, ‘Famagusta Gazette’ reports.
President Anastasiades said that he deeply regretted that he felt compelled to suspend his participation in the talks that aim to reunite Cyprus, divided since the 1974 peace keeping mission launched by Turkey in Cyprus.
In a written response, Anastasiades assured the Turkish Cypriots that he remained committed to finding a solution to the Cyprus problem and to working with all his ability to achieve this end.
President Anastasiades reiterated that the natural wealth of the Republic of Cyprus belongs to the state and a solution to the Cyprus problem would help the whole of Cyprus to benefit “on the basis of population ratios.”
However, he points out, at a time when the Greek Cypriot side proposes measures to build confidence in order to create a new momentum in the ongoing dialogue and to have the real intentions of the parties involved revealed, Turkey, ignoring the benefits that it would have from the solution of the Cyprus problem, “proceeds with actions which flagrantly violate the sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus, strongly undermining the efforts to find a just, viable and functional solution for the benefit of all Cypriots.”
“My strong desire for a solution to the Cyprus problem is well-known,” he says, adding that unfortunately Eroglu’s stance and Ankara`s actions in the past few days “leave me no other option.”
The South’s president also speculated that these events may have been linked to pre-election campaigning or other motives for President Eroglu.
“I want to reassure our Turkish Cypriot compatriots that I remain committed and will work with all my strength to achieve a solution to the Cyprus problem. What is necessary at this time is the implementation of confidence building measures and not measures that create more mistrust between the lawful citizens of the island, through actions that violate international law,” he stressed.
“I am really sad that due to the developments I was compelled to decide the suspension of my participation in the process of the talks,” Anastasiades concluded.
This latest development arose afterTurkey issued a NAVTEX (Navigational Telex), a notice to mariners advising that it was reserving areas south of Cyprus for seismic surveys from October 20 to December 30.
