The General Secretary of AKEL Stefanos Stefanou said that what was heard yesterday during the National Council meeting about closing down the checkpoints, instead of helping will in the end leads us in confrontation with the EU, the international community and the Turkish Cypriots.
It is the government’s responsibility that Turkey’s methods in Varosha were not repelled, Stefanos Stefanou stressed, describing the government’s handling as disappointing.
Speaking to ‘Astra’ morning edition, Stefanos Stefanou underlined that at the National Council, AKEL reiterated to the President of the Republic that he must take initiatives by conveying to the UN that it is in favour of resuming the talks from the point where they were interrupted at Crans Montana, while preserving the convergences of the past.
He criticized the President for withdrawing past convergences over the past four years, including the convergence on political equality, which Turkey is using as a pretext to claim that the Greek Cypriots do not want a solution.
It was stressed to the President, S.Stefanou, that if he brought back the convergence on political equality, the Greek Cypriot side’s credibility in the eyes of the international community would be enhanced.
At the same time, the General Secretary of AKEL stressed that AKEL called on the President to move in the direction of what the UN Secretary General notes in his report on the utilisation of natural gas as a catalyst for a solution to the Cyprus problem.
Stefanos Stefanou said that what was heard yesterday during the National Council meeting about the closing of the roadblocks, instead of helping in the end will lead us in confrontation with the EU, the international community and the Turkish Cypriots.

Source: Parikiaki.com