He described the provocative actions of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan against the Republic of Cyprus as predictable, in the context of the COP 31 Summit held yesterday in Antalya, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Law at the University of Cyprus, Costas Paraskevas.
Speaking on the Alpha Kalimera program, Mr. Paraskevas noted that the provocative actions observed upon the arrival of the President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, at the Summit, are part of Ankara’s long-standing policy of not recognizing the Republic of Cyprus. As he explained, Turkey has maintained since 1964 that the Republic of Cyprus does not represent the constitutional framework agreed upon in the Zurich and London Agreements, referring to it as the “Greek Cypriot administration” or “administration of the south.”
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
“This is not befitting behavior for the head of a state, such as the President of the Republic of Cyprus, and I do not believe that this hospitality does credit to the Turkish Republic,” he said, adding that the Turkish side attempted, on the one hand, to downplay the Republic of Cyprus and, on the other, to elevate the status of Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman. He noted that this stance was to be expected from the government, as it is part of Ankara’s long-standing approach.
READ ALSO: Erdogan’s Tactics at COP 31: The UN’s Disdain for Christodoulides’ Arrival and Erhürman’s Top Spot
“The process was simply saved”
Referring to the agreement on a new Trilateral Meeting with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, Mr. Paraskevas noted that the timeframe is now particularly limited, as Mr. Guterres’s term is nearing its end. In his view, the recent agreement to open two new checkpoints represents a minimal common ground, achieved primarily to keep the process alive.
As he noted, the interventions and warnings of the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy on Cyprus, María Ángela Olguín, played a significant role in reaching this agreement; she made every possible effort to prevent a new impasse.
“What has been achieved is simply to keep the entire process alive,” she noted, adding that the trilateral meeting should not be viewed as an indication that a positive climate has been established for the resumption of negotiations.
At the same time, he indicated that if no substantial progress is made, the Secretary-General is expected to document the situation in his report and hand over responsibility to his successor, with the result that the Cyprus issue will remain without an active negotiation process.
“There cannot be another five-party meeting that leads to a dead end”
Mr. Paraskevas warned that expectations for the upcoming meeting should be modest, as there is currently no sign of the necessary convergence between the two sides to pave the way for a new Enlarged Conference. In fact, he recalled that Ms. Olgin herself has made it clear that the Secretary-General does not want yet another five-party meeting that would end in another impasse, as such a development would further widen the gap between the two sides.
“Whereas in 2017 the two sides were so close to covering the last mile toward a solution, they are now so far apart that they are unable to clear four roadblocks,” he noted. At the same time, he pointed out that the absence of substantive negotiations for nearly ten years constitutes the longest period without negotiating momentum in the history of the Cyprus issue since 1974.
Commenting on the personal envoy’s public statements, she noted that her criticism was not limited to one side, but concerned both sides, as she herself pointed out the absence of the necessary political will. In conclusion, Mr. Paraskevas emphasized that the coming days are critical, expressing hope for a more positive development, without, however, ruling out the possibility that the process might once again reach an impasse.
SEE ALSO: The Antalya Conference: Turkey’s Challenges, the Agenda, and Notable Absences
