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In the framework of a session of the Political Affairs and Democracy Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the Rapporteur on the issue of the return of Famagusta to its legal inhabitants, Italian MP Mr. Mr. Piero Fassino presented his revised draft Report.
Mr. Fassino informed the Committee members of his intention to make a second working visit to Cyprus in the near future and to submit his final Report for adoption during the work of the next session of the CSTC in June 2024.
Mr. Fassino informed the Committee members of his intention to make a second working visit to Cyprus in the near future and to submit his final Report for adoption at the next session of the CSTC in June 2024. Fassino said that his Report will reflect, on the one hand, the current state of affairs and the positions of the sides and, on the other hand, will include constructive suggestions on possible ways for the Council of Europe (CoE) to encourage and support the sides to return to the negotiating table to resolve the Cyprus problem, including the issue of Famagusta.
In his statement, Commissioner George Loukaides, after referring to the 50 years since the invasion and the ongoing Turkish occupation and the longest stalemate in the history of the Cyprus problem, pointed out that the classification of the Cyprus problem and the CoE as a frozen conflict can become a hot one, as the examples of ethnic cleansing in Nagorno Karabakh and Gaza demonstrate. Loucaides stressed that the talks must resume immediately from where they were interrupted in Crans Montana with full respect for the entire negotiating acquis, on the basis of a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality, as set out in the relevant UN Resolutions. Mr.Loucaides stressed that the CoE must take a clear position by approving the parties when they act in a way that serves the objective of resuming the talks and resolving the Cyprus problem on the basis of the agreed framework, and vice versa. Disapprove of anything that undermines or even destroys this perspective. It is precisely on the basis of this framework that he condemned Turkish claims for a "two-state" solution in Cyprus, underlining that the dichotomous status quo, in whatever form, is in no way sustainable, neither for Greek Cypriots nor for Turkish Cypriots. On the other hand, he advocated additional confidence-building measures in the context of a broader positive agenda.
It is important, the Cypriot MP said, that the Council of Europe encourages the sides to return to dialogue, but also condemns actions that are contrary to the relevant UN resolutions. The new fait accompli with the opening and planned settlement of the enclosed area of Famagusta, not only undermines the prospects for the resumption of negotiations, but could potentially bury the prospects for a Cyprus settlement, Mr.Loukaides stressed.
The Turkish Cypriot representative to the Assembly, the National Unity Party, Mr. Hasipoğlu, making the well-known allegations of alleged isolation of the Turkish Cypriot community, described the report as heterogeneous, as he claimed that it did not reflect the true picture of the Turkish Cypriots and asked the Rapporteur to suspend the process of drafting the final text, a request which was rejected by Mr. Fassino.
(Text as sent by the House of Representatives)
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