President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, called on the Turkish government to sit down with the Republic of Cyprus at the same table, to agree on maritime borders.
The President was asked on Thursday by the press, on the sidelines of an event organized by the Cyprus Children’s Parliament, that took place at the Presidential Palace, to comment on statements made by Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot leader, Tufan Erhrman, following the signing on Wednesday of an EEZ delimitation agreement with Lebanon.
He stressed that the Republic of Cyprus is a member of the United Nations and the European Union and, on the basis of international law and good neighbourly relations, as well as on the basis of the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea, is proceeding with agreements with neighbouring states.
President Christodoulides said that his response to what is said by Ankara is to publicly state the readiness of the Republic of Cyprus to sit down at the same table with Turkey, to agree on maritime borders, on the basis of the Law of the Sea.
He stressed that if the Turkish side is so certain and confident about its positions, it could just sit down with the Republic of Cyprus to discuss and determine maritime borders, “as we did with neighbouring states and as we will continue to do”.
When asked about the messages sent by Turkish Cypriot leader, in view of the new effort to resume peace talks on the Cyprus issue, the President replied that he would not comment on Erhurman’s approach and that his stance will not determine the Republic’s planning.
He repeated what he had told the Turkish Cypriot leader when he first met him recently, namely the readiness of the Greek Cypriot side “even tomorrow to resume the talks from where they left off in Crans-Montana in order to reach a viable and functional solution to the Cyprus issue”.
He said that he told the T/c leader that even during Cyprus’ EU Presidency which begins January 1st, he is ready and fully prepared without looking for any excuse, to sit down and resume the dialogue, building on the acquis of the negotiations and on the basis of the agreed framework.
He continued by saying that his message to Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot leader is that if there is political will, which on our part is there, “we are ready, we are fully prepared, yes, we can in a short time get to a solution of the Cyprus problem on the basis of the agreed framework.”
The President was also asked about the visit to Germany on Friday by Turkish Foreign Minister and whether Chancellor Friedrich Merz will convey a message, within the framework of the initiative he discussed with him.
The President reiterated that during his presence in Berlin mid November, they discussed EU-Turkey relations among other issues.
He reiterated that he expressed some very specific suggestions, ideas, opinions with him.
“And taking into account the very good relations between Germany and Turkey – let me remind you that the German Chancellor was recently in Ankara – we asked him to help in this direction”, President Christodoulides said.
He recalled that there was a positive response on behalf of the Chancellor and added that we should await for Turkish FM’s visit, expressing certainty that they will be briefed accordingly.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.