The efforts to restart the talks on the Cyprus issue were discussed during the meeting of the Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, with the General Secretary of AKEL, Stefanos Stefanos.

During the meeting, the efforts to restart the talks on the Cyprus issue were discussed. The Prime Minister emphasized that the informal meeting held in New York between Nikos Christodoulidis and Ersin Tatar, at the initiative of UN Secretary General António Guterres, is a positive first step.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis reiterated Greece’s firm position to find a fair, sustainable, functional and mutually acceptable solution to the Cyprus problem, in the form of a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation, with one sovereignty, one citizenship and one international personality, in the context formed by the decisions of the UN Security Council.

For his part, Mr. Stefanou stated that “we had a very interesting meeting with the Greek Prime Minister Mr. Mitsotakis as well as with the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Gerapetritis in a very important period where Greek-Turkish relations are on a good path, there is a dialogue between Greece and Turkey and this in turn helps the climate in the Cyprus issue. It is known that during this period in the Cypriot conflict there is a movement that arose after the informal meeting of the President of the Republic with the Turkish Cypriot leader in New York. I think it was the best time to have this meeting with the Greek Prime Minister.”

Mitsotakis

Mr. Stefanou also emphasized that “certainly the main topic of the meeting was the Cyprus issue. We were given the opportunity to develop the basic positions of AKEL regarding how we approach the effort to break the impasse and to restart the dialogue from the point where they were interrupted in Crans Montana, preserving the entire negotiating acquis and discussing the outstanding issues that exist in the context Guterres”.

“As is well known, AKEL has long-standing, historical relations with the Turkish Cypriot community, which relations we use in order to create better relations of trust with the Turkish Cypriot community in a collective effort that must be made to break the impasse, restart negotiations and complete the effort that will lead to the overall solution of the Cyprus problem. I think we owe this to the Cypriot people, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, and for this we will continue to strive. I want to thank the Greek Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister for the meeting and the opportunity they gave us to discuss these issues” Mr. Stefanou pointed out.