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The UN Secretary-General, Mr
António Guterres, yesterday, (28/1/2021) gave a press conference at UN
Headquarters. During the press conference, the Secretary-General replied to a
press question on Cyprus, as follows:
Anadolu: Thank you Mr. Secretary-General. Following your phone
conversation with the Turkish Cypriot leader a few days ago and your recent
report to the Security Council and your intention to bring the two parties
together, when and where are you planning to convene a meeting among those
two leaders?
And a follow up on the same
issue, newly elected Turkish Cypriot leader says that I quote “We deserve our
own state.” Is the UN open to new ideas or you still support a federally
unified Cyprus? Thank you.
Secretary-General: Well, first of all, it is my intention to convene early
March a meeting of the 5+1, which means United Nations together with the two
communities in Cyprus and together with the guarantors - means Turkey,
Greece, and United Kingdom.
And that meeting, we decided it
will be an informal meeting without preconditions to allow for the parties,
and there is this change, as know, in the administration of “northern
Cyprus,” so it is important that there is a chance for people to, frankly,
discuss among themselves how they see the future and how they see things
moving forward.
Now, I have a mandate for the
Security Council for UN involvement in relation to the negotiations, and that
mandate refers explicitly the bi-zonal, bi-community solution, as you know.
Obviously, this does not... is
not an impediment, for in the meeting that we are convening every... of the
interlocutors to present the positions that they will present. And I am
always ready to go to the Security Council and, if there is an agreement of the
parties in enlarging the scope of negotiations, to be the interpreter to have
a common agreement in this regard.
But as I said, the first step
is to bring them together, to listen to them, and to see the result of that
discussion. And the fact that I stick to the mandate I received doesn't mean
that I'm not open to listen to everybody and to take the conclusions of that
discussion, based on whatever the parties can come to a common view about the
future.
EH/ECHR
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30-01-2021 11:08
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UN
Security Council renews UNFICYP’s mandate
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Statement by the Permanent Representative of Cyprus, Amb.
Andreas D. Mavroyiannis
The UN Security Council
yesterday, 29.1.2021 adopted Resolution 2561 on Cyprus, renewing the mandate
of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus for a period of six months, until the
end of July 2021.
Following the adoption, the
Permanent Representative of Cyprus, Ambassador Andreas D. Mavroyiannis, made
a statement to the press, as follows:
“The Security Council has just
adopted resolution 2561 on Cyprus. I had earlier given the consent of the
Republic of Cyprus for the renewal of the mandate of the UN Peacekeeping
Force in Cyprus, UNFICYP, with the same mandate and the same strength.
I would like to thank all
members of the Security Council for the work done and for the adoption of
this resolution. I would like also to thank the Secretary-General, the
Secretariat, and all troop contributing countries for this seamless renewal
of the mandate of the Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, for a period of six
months, until the end of July 2021.
The resolution just adopted, is
also very important for reasons that have to do with the current situation in
Cyprus and the efforts for the resumption of the negotiations for the
settlement of the Cyprus problem. The resolution reconfirms and reaffirms
very strongly the basis of the sought-after solution of the Cyprus problem,
as a bizonal, bicommunal federation, with political equality as described by
Security Council Resolutions. It also calls to continue building on the
existing body of work and expresses its encouragement to the
Secretary-General, in order to convene in the coming weeks, what the UN calls
a “5+1” meeting in order to put the process back on track.
The resolution is also very
important because it reaffirms the Presidential statement of last October on
the new fait accomplis created by the occupying power in the fenced area of
Varosha, and calls for the reversal of those new fait accomplis and for the
respect of the status of Varosha and of the mandate of the peacekeeping force
in that area.
And then, I would just mention
only one more element which has to do with the situation in the Eastern
Mediterranean; the Security Council is calling not only to avoid any
unilateral action which put in jeopardy the peace in the Eastern
Mediterranean and a clear reference to the illegal drilling by Turkey, in
areas that very clearly belong to the maritime areas of the Republic of
Cyprus. Also, the resolution calls for the settlement of any disputes that
have to do with maritime areas in the Eastern Mediterranean, through
international law and a very direct reference that way to the need of all
states to abide by international law and somehow, alluding to all judicial
means of settlement of international disputes.”
The provisional document can be
seen here: S/RES/2561 (2021)
30/1/2021
ΕH
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