Letymbiotis responds vaguely to UN warning
Repeating the government’s official tirade on Turkish intransigence and praising its own dedication to resuming negotiations on the Cyprus problem, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis gave a lukewarm response to a UN chastising a few hours earlier.
The spokesman dodged criticism by saying the government wanted to see UN envoy Maria Angela Holguin’s report to the UN chief before commenting and was still expecting an out-of-character briefing by the UN on Holguin’s meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar.
“So far, we do not have an official briefing on the meeting between Tatar and Holguin,” Letymbiotis told CyBC.
“We have seen the public statements by Tatar and, as the president of the Republic himself said last (Monday) night, we did not expect to hear anything different from what he has been repeating for some time now,” he added.
“We will await the official briefing and then, if necessary, we will give our position.”
The briefing, he said when asked, will come from “the UN and Holguin”.
“What is imminent at the moment is the report Holguin will submit to the UN secretary general around mid-July, next week,” he said.
“What is important is reading the facts for the next moves, this is what is important, this is the purpose of this report, to be able to help the secretary-general to evaluate the steps that can be taken in everyone’s effort to resume negotiations,” he added.
“We and the UN remain dedicated to this effort within the agreed-on framework,” he said.
To a comment on Monday that the Security Council had mentioned that the parties are far from a compromise solution and had hardened their positions, Letymbiotis said “we must first evaluate this distance and see which these two parties are.”
“If we are talking about two parties, one side is the agreed-on framework, as set out by the UN Security Council resolutions, which obviously the UN and the secretary general’s personal envoy support and promote, as we do – and we have not shifted at any time from this agreed framework,” he said.
“On the other hand, unfortunately, are the unacceptable demands and the intransigence shown, at least through public statements, by Tatar and Turkey,” he stressed.
To a suggestion that the UN statements were a cause of concern, Letymbiotis said he could not know the reasons behind the statements.
“What I can say and I believe is understood, acceptable and acknowledged by the international community, is that our side, the Republic of Cyprus – at least in the past 16 months that I am in a position to know – has made and continues to make efforts, we have undertaken initiatives that are helpful in creating a positive climate so that the negotiations can resume,” he said.
“We will wait for the report to be submitted and of course we await a briefing from the UN secretary general, mainly on the next steps he considers could be taken towards the pursued aim, which is none other than the resumption of negotiations.”
Asked if the UN envoy made a habit of informing the sides on each other’s meetings, the spokesman said that “there will be a briefing as it is the meeting that precedes submitting the report, so there will be a self-explanatory communication before the report is submitted.”