Two years have elapsed since the collapse at Crans Montana and there is still no indication whatsoever that a resumption of the negotiation procedure is imminent, which is the only way to solve the Cyprus problem. Time spans are narrowing dangerously because, inter alia, the possibility is real that the forces seeking a two-state solution will prevail inside the Turkish Cypriot community.
The President of the Republic’s affirmation that the situation created in the Exclusive Economic Zone makes the efforts aiming at a resumption of the negotiations more difficult. This, however, does not mean that the Presidential Palace must be satisfied with making declarations. On the contrary, Mr. Anastasiades needs to take initiatives to end Turkey’s provocative actions and resume negotiations. To achieve this goal, he must persuade the UN Secretary-General – in practice and not in words – provided of course that Turkey will terminate its provocative actions and that he is ready to enter into talks just as Mr. Guterres has been asking him to do since September 2017. That is to say, to continue the talks from where they had remained with the convergences, the Guterres Framework and the informal document on the mechanism for implementing the solution without terms and conditions. It is obvious that the effort in relation to the notorious terms of reference has failed. The President’s so-called “new ideas” have complicated matters even more, and the only thing the Anastasiades government is achieving by persisting on them is the continuation of the deadlock.
If Mr. Anastasiades continues to rely on the mere confirmation that Turkey’s provocative actions do not enable the resumption of negotiations, he is in danger of becoming the President of final partition. In this case, he will be held to account before our history and people.
