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- Ελληνικά
The President of the Republic Mr.Nicos Christodoulides chaired a meeting of the National Council at the Presidential Palace today. Konstantinos Letibiotis told reporters that the meeting was "a constructive, beneficial, meaningful discussion, for which the President of the Republic would like to thank all political forces, political leaders and the former President of the Republic for their very constructive attitude.
The President of the Republic provided a thorough briefing on the handling of our efforts to resume negotiations, and also in view of his trip to New York in the context of the UN General Assembly.
The President from the very first moment has taken concrete initiatives, it has become clear that our side, the Republic of Cyprus, the President himself, is ready for an immediate resumption of negotiations from where they have been interrupted.
The President has discussed with all the political leaders and what we can say with satisfaction is that national objectives require national unity and that is exactly what we saw today in the National Council meeting. A national unity, an exchange of views that is constructive, meaningful, all political forces together putting the national interest and the national interest above all else.
The President also briefed in relation to the recent incidents in Pyla and the diplomatic early handling to prevent Turkish plans, resulting in unprecedented international mobilization.
The political forces acknowledged the correct handling of the Government, the President of the Republic, the Minister of Foreign Affairs to mobilize the international community, the Statement of the Security Council (SC), which sets very specific parameters of the framework and reaffirms the support of the UNSC to the agreed framework, the bizonal bicommunal federation with political equality, but also the need for the appointment of a UN Secretary General envoy for the Cyprus problem, a position that the President has repeatedly underlined to the UN Secretary General.
Finally, the issue of migration was discussed and the President informed about the course, the development, the actions and the next steps that the Government is willing to take. What the President of the Republic has made clear is that this Government, in line with the President's programme of governance, has set as its primary objective an effective migration policy that will address the issue holistically.
It is known that Cyprus, as a frontline country, has received high migratory flows in recent years and Migration has emerged in recent years as one of the issues of concern to society.
What we have seen in the last four months, for the first time in the history of Migration, is a reversal of the numbers, departures outnumbering arrivals for the first time, twice the number of applications being processed on a monthly basis than last year, 1800 applications a month instead of 1000.
The asylum applications department has been staffed with 27 additional examiners and next month will proceed to recruit another 25 people to further speed up procedures and we are in the process of strengthening existing infrastructure and creating new structures.
What the President of the Republic has asked of the political powers, and it is the call of the executive branch, is that the bill for the establishment of the Deputy Ministry of Immigration be promoted as soon as possible, which we believe is self-evident from the procedures that have been rolled out that it will play a catalytic role in further radically addressing the migration issue.
Finally, and this was the common line, the common view of all the members of the National Council, it is obvious and unequivocal that we cannot resolve the issue through violence, through incidents causing material damage and endangering lives. Violence brings violence and this is a message that we all send together.
The Government, the Republic of Cyprus, the State will not tolerate phenomena of violence, phenomena that endanger public safety and this is non-negotiable."
Asked about the issue of the Gate and whether we are close to an agreement, the Spokesman said that "there is no conclusion. We have been and are in contact with the peacekeeping force. The framework has been set by the SC through its unanimous statement and that is to prevent Turkish plans to overthrow the buffer zone regime. This is also clear through the SA Statement, to ensure the terms of reference of the peacekeeping force, to prevent the expansion of the occupation by the occupying regime."
He added that the Government's primary objective is to prevent Turkish plans aimed at overthrowing the buffer zone regime, challenging the terms of reference of the peacekeeping force and extending the occupation, noting that "neither we nor the Security Council are discussing this."
Asked whether the measures concerning Turkish Cypriots would be announced before the General Assembly, the Spokesman said that this would be decided by the President of the Republic. He added that the measures have been finalized and concern areas that affect the daily life of our Turkish Cypriot compatriots.
Asked if there is political responsibility for what happened in Chloraka and to a remark that there have been calls for resignations, the Spokesman said that the decision to assume political responsibility is a constitutional power of the President.
"What we are concerned with and have set as our goal is to ensure public safety, it is the enforcement of the law through the constituted organs of a favoured state," he said.
"We would expect and hope that we would all, at this time, be heading in that direction and not prioritise resignations," he added.
Asked about the President's contacts in New York, the Spokesman said that "the President will be making several contacts in New York and once the programme is completed it will be made public."
He added that "the General Assembly has been set as a milestone not only now, but over time. It was a visible, big, important milestone, especially now that the President has undertaken a major diplomatic effort with the recent results in including the conclusions of the last European Council and we also look forward to his going to New York where he will have very important contacts."
Asked about Yenka's contacts in Turkey, the Spokesman said that "we do not have any concrete information so far, but we are confident that after he reports to the UN Secretary General, there will be an update before the President goes to New York or during his stay there."
(PM/NG/SX)
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