The Erdoğan government wants to solve the Cyprus problem, journalist and author Makarios Drousiotis said in an interview with Greek Cypriot daily ‘Politis’ about his latest book ‘Crime in Crans-Montana’, which covers the last set of Cyprus negotiations, Kibris Postasi reported.
According to Drousiotis, the reason, in the past for this was, “economic and the desire to join the EU” and “energy or both” in the present.
Drousiotis who, for a time, was an advisor to Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades, wrote in his book titled ‘Crime in Crans-Montana’, that Anastasiades agrees with Turkey on the two-state solution. He also wrote that ex-president Mustafa Akıncı had also confirmed this, Kibris Postasi wrote.
Referring to the last summit on the Cyprus problem which was held at Crans-Montana in Switzerland in 2017 and ended in failure, he wrote, “When Anastasiades saw that the two-state formula could not be accepted, he asked to meet with [Turkish Foreign Minister] Çavuşoğlu again and offered a loose federation”. Droushiotis said that Anastasiades had told the [Greek] Cyprus National Council that Çavuşoğlu wanted two states, and that he had countered with a loose federation.
Drousiotis, answering a question said, “Many people think that Anastasiades is determined and slams his fist on the table, but this is a myth. Anastasiades is not a brave leader. As I describe in my Gang book [Simmoria], they also have economic interests and dependence on foreign countries that do not want the Cyprus problem to be resolved,” he said.
“Many people believe that the facts about Cyprus were provoked by the west, the British and the American element. Russia controls the game in Cyprus,” Drousiotis claimed.
Drousiotis went on to say:
“Following that agenda, from January 2017 to Crans Montana, Anastasiades’ approach was constant rejection and distraction. There was nothing positive. There was rejection and the undermining of Eide [former UNSG special representative], negotiators, outsiders, interventions. There was the issue of ELAM’s Enosis plebiscite, which Anastasiades did not incite but used. He used various tricks because he held a meeting in February and said, ‘We are going to the elections, forget about the Cyprus problem’. Anastasiades’ thought was that if we go to the elections, we will look at the Cyprus problem after 2018.
“He went to the Geneva conference in 2017, the conference was interrupted for a few days, but Anastasiades resumed after six months. It was then that Anastasiades clashed with [Greek foreign minister ] Kotzias, complaining about him to [Greek prime minister] Tsipras. After that, he sent [Greek Cypriot goverment spokesman] Nicos Christodoulidis to Athens on a special mission and told Kotzias ‘we are together’. Their relationship has been perfect. It wasn’t perfect before. Anastasiades told me that he went to Athens and met Tsipras secretly.”
Drousiotis has been accused of supporting Turkey, to which he responded “ I serve the truth!”
He went on to ask, “Do we evaluate the truth based on who says it or what events say? Anastasiades, who went to Çavuşoğlu on the eve of the great negotiations and told him that the Cyprus problem cannot be solved with a federation, we want a two-state solution. Give me time to hold the elections and we will solve it with two states, and agree with Turkey. He said this to many when he returned to Cyprus, removing the federation from his dictionary for two years.
“[Turkish foreign minister] Çavuşoğlu said this after the meeting and the diplomatic scene spread behind the scenes. This was confirmed to me by 4th President Mustafa Akıncı, whom I also call a personal witness. In a meeting I had with Christodoulides at the Presidency, “how did the negotiations go?’ When I asked him, he replied, “Akıncı, who does not lie, will make a statement”. He is right too. I have not heard a statement when Akıncı lied. He may misunderstand, misinterpret, but Akıncı is not a liar. I cannot say the same for Anastasiades. Which one outweighs our conscience? He lied to me because he is Greek Cypriot and he is my president, and I have to accept it? I do not accept it”.
“I think that Anastasiades believes that the majority of society is inclined to a two-state solution. He’s told this to many people, it’s terrible that only the Archbishop has come out and verified it. When Anastasiades saw that the two-state formula could not be accepted, he asked to meet with Çavuşoğlu again and said, “The two states are not approved, let’s go to a loose federation.”
Makarios Drousiotis, investigative writer, journalist and former advisor to Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Anastasiades, was interviewed by ‘Politis’ about his recently published 438-page book “Crime in Crans-Montana”, which follows the publication of his book “Simmoria” (The Gang) about the period when he worked with Anastasiades.
