The will of Cyprus and Israel to further strengthen and deepen both bilateral cooperation and the trilateral and multilateral cooperation in which the two countries participate is a given, such as the one with Greece and the 3+1 cooperation with the US, the Government Spokesman said when asked to comment on yesterday's telephone communication between Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides and his Israeli counterpart, following the ethno-religious memorial of the hero Petros Yalluros.
Asked if the relations with Israel continue to deepen or are there rifts, Pelecanos said they continue to strengthen and deepen and recalled that the President of the Republic recently visited Israel for the trilateral meeting with Tel Aviv and Athens. "In the presence of the officials of the new government of Israel, the willingness and desire of all sides to further deepen this cooperation was confirmed," he said.
Asked to comment on a possible prolonged deadlock in the Cyprus problem due to the fact that elections will be held in Cyprus and Turkey next year and what the government intends to do about it, Marios Pelekanos said that the deadlock is observed due to the intransigence of the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot sides. In 2018, he added, President Anastasiades had reached an agreement with Mr.Akinci on the route that would be followed for the resumption of the negotiation process.
This was followed, he continued, by the election of Mr.Tatar to the leadership of the T/C community and since then we have been facing the obstacle called Turkish intransigence. "What we have to do, what we are doing and will continue to do is to use all available tools so that we can bring Turkey back to the negotiating table in order to finally restart a creative dialogue that will lead us to the solution of the Cyprus problem."
We recognize the difficulties, we are realistic, we follow the attitude and behavior of the Turkish Cypriot side on a daily basis, we follow the statements of Mr. Tatar, he added, saying that our side will continue to use all available tools to achieve our goal.
Asked whether the SG will take an initiative to bring the two sides together on common ground, considering that even the appointment of a Special Envoy has not been agreed upon, the Spokesman said that Mr. Stewart has indicated that he will continue contacts with the two sides. The common ground, he added, exists in the convergences reached, the UNSC resolutions that also define the UN Secretary General's terms of reference, the High Level Agreements, the point where we were left at Crans-Montana, "where a huge distance had been travelled and a lot of progress had been made on very many of the points under discussion".
Therefore, he continued, the common ground exists and the two sides should come back to the dialogue table, noting that the appointment of a Special Envoy would be helpful in that direction.
Pelecanos pointed out that the E/C side has submitted specific MOUs that could also be helpful in the whole effort.
Referring to the actions of President Anastasiades to address problems of concern to the people, Pelecanos said that a series of meetings will follow, similar to those already held, on issues related to the daily life of citizens. The President of the Republic, he said, is trying to give a boost to these pending issues.
Next week, he said, they will have important meetings on the issues of social housing, the Limassol stadium, and others concerning specific policies and reforms promoted by the government and President Anastasiades, with his personal involvement, is trying to give a boost to all of them.
On Tuesday, he explained, there will be a wide-ranging meeting first on the social policy issues that the government is implementing through the Land Development Agency and the second part will be on energy upgrading of residential units, which is for the benefit of the household since energy is saved and therefore we pay a lower bill. Pollutants and the environment will also be discussed, which he said is for the benefit of consumers, all citizens and the country.
Source: CNA
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