[PIO] Statements of the President of the Republic at the "Remembrance Day" event

The President of the Republic Mr.Nicos Christodoulides attended today the "Remembrance Day" event where he laid a wreath at the World War II Memorial of the Fallen near the PASYDY building in Nicosia.

Subsequently, President Christodoulides made statements to media representatives.

Asked by a journalist about the purpose of the event, the President referred to Cyprus' contribution to the First and Second World Wars with the participation of many volunteers, adding that we did not learn lessons from the First and Second World Wars, taking into account the facts and developments in our region.

The President stated that it is not enough to simply commemorate the memory of all those who died. The most important thing, he said, is to take appropriate actions so that similar events and developments can be avoided, adding that the Republic of Cyprus, always within its capabilities, is trying to help, taking into account its proximity to the region, its excellent relations with all states in the region and its status as a member state of the European Union, particularly with regard to the humanitarian fate of this crisis. "The assurances that we have, at least on the part of the United Nations, I can tell you that they do not specify that. On the contrary, they are asking for time to implement the understanding that exists. I report to you that on Monday I have requested and a telephone contact with the Secretary General of the United Nations has been determined. I will be in Berlin for a short European Council meeting in connection with the strategic agenda of the European Union, the future of the European Union, and from there I will talk to the Secretary-General of the United Nations. One of the issues we will discuss is the implementation of what has been agreed on the issue of the gate."

Asked whether the Government is aware of the content of what has been agreed with UNFICYP and the Turkish side, and whether there is anything that binds the other side to abide by what has been agreed, the President replied. If he has someone who disagrees with these two, he can come out publicly to say so. We are focusing on the substance. The substance is the consensus that exists. It is important that the people of the region also welcome this effort by the Republic of Cyprus and I repeat, our objective is twofold. On the one hand, there should be no violation of the buffer zone and on the other hand, there should not be any military advantage on the part of the occupying forces. Beyond that, the United Nations is responsible for the implementation of what has been agreed."

Asked if he believes that, as a matter of fact, the Turkish Cypriot side has withdrawn from the provisions of this understanding, the President replied. And the United Nations, and I mentioned it publicly a few days ago, asked for some pause so that through the processes with the occupying forces, with Turkey, to ensure the implementation of what has been agreed."

Asked to comment on whether the phone call with Mr. Guterres was also related to the issue of the envoy because there was a similar phone call with Mr. Tatar, the President said: "It is not relevant that Mr. Tatar spoke with the Secretary-General. The telephone call with the Secretary-General concerns three issues: The first, the one you mentioned above, the appointment of a personality. You know that the Secretary-General has decided on a certain personality. The President added that Turkey's reaction to the appointment of a personality from Commonwealth countries is not reasonable, adding: "There have been many such appointments. The United Nations is continuing the effort, so the one issue that will be discussed is this." Continuing his statement on the three issues of the phone call with the Secretary-General, Christodoulides said: "The second is certainly the developments in Pyla, and the third is the effort of the Republic of Cyprus to create a maritime humanitarian corridor. I exchanged views with Mr Lacroix when he was in Cyprus. I want to talk more specifically, especially with the Secretary General. The United Nations has a role to play, particularly on the issue of receiving humanitarian aid. So those are the three issues, not excluding anything else."

Asked about the possibility of a new envoy name, the President said: "No, on the United Nations side the information that we have is that the person that the Secretary-General has chosen is still at the table and there are ongoing efforts on the part of the United Nations. If one is looking for excuses, if one is afraid to come to the negotiating table, one can find many excuses. But let us hope, let us give the Secretary-General time to see what he can achieve in relation to this particular issue, which we believe is crucial, bearing in mind that we will also be discussing Euro-Turkey at the European Council in December. We also discussed this yesterday with the Greek Prime Minister about developments on the Cyprus issue. One of them is the appointment of a personality. Progress on the Greek-Turkish issue is important to see progress on the Euro-Turkish issue."

Asked to comment on statements he made to Le Monde on the Gaza issue without going into details about the Israeli Prime Minister's suggestion of a specific delivery point for humanitarian aid in southwestern Gaza, the President said: "We went into details. Of course we went into details. We have a document which is 25 pages long that follows step by step how all this will be implemented. There are ongoing as we speak, and in the coming days, consultations at the technical level, at the technocratic level, with Israel and with other countries, just to see all the details."

Asked whether there is a team from Cyprus that has gone to Israel to discuss exactly this issue, the President replied that there are telephone communications all the time and that there will be a team going over in the next few days.

Asked whether there is an indicative timetable if and when it is decided to implement this initiative, as well as when it will start, the President said: "Our proposal has three stages, if you like. It is immediate what can be implemented, it is the medium-term, and it is the long-term. No one can estimate with certainty how long this war, this crisis, will last. Our wish and expectation is that it will end tomorrow. But I repeat, no one can determine, so we through our proposal exactly touch these three stages, as I told you, immediate, medium and long term."

Asked to comment on the references made by the Greek Prime Minister to technical difficulties regarding this proposal, and whether there is any discussion with the European partners on how to overcome these difficulties, the President said: "I will remind you that a Greek Prime Minister welcomed the initiative of the Republic of Cyprus and even specifically suggested that Greece will participate in this initiative. Beyond that, yes, there are technical issues and that is what we are working on."

(AF/MS)
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