The Rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (CACE) on the issue of the return of Famagusta to its legal residents, Piero Fassino, will soon pay a visit to Cyprus, who presented the revised draft of his report before the Political Affairs and Democracy Committee of KSSE.
Mr. Fassino, according to an announcement by the House of Representatives, informed the members of the Committee of his intention to make a second working visit to Cyprus soon and to submit for approval his final Report during the work of the next KSSE Session, in June 2024.
In the context of a session of the Political Affairs and Democracy Committee of the KSSE, it is added, Mr. Fassino stated that his Report will depict, on the one hand, the current state of affairs and the positions of the parties and, on the other hand, will include constructive suggestions for possible ways of encouraging and support for the sides from the Council of Europe (CoE), so that they return to the negotiating table to resolve the Cyprus problem, including the issue of Famagusta.
According to the announcement, in his statement, the member of the Commission, Giorgos Loukaidis, after referring to the 50 years since the invasion and the ongoing Turkish occupation and to the longest deadlock in the history of the Cypriot state, "pointed out that the classification of the Cypriot state and in the CoE as frozen conflict can become heated, as the examples of ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh and Gaza demonstrate."
"Mr. Loukaidis emphasized that the talks should resume immediately from where they were interrupted in Crans-Montana with full respect for the entire acquis of the negotiations, on the basis of the bi-zonal, bi-communal federation, with political equality, as determined in the relevant UN Resolutions" , is added.
It is also reported that Mr. Loukaidis "underlined that the CoE must position itself in a clear way by approving the sides when they act in a way that serves the goal of resuming the talks and resolving the Cyprus issue on the basis of the agreed framework, but also the opposite" .
On the basis of precisely this context, he "politicized the Turkish claims for a "two-state" solution in Cyprus, underlining that the dichotomous status quo, in any form, is in no way sustainable, neither for the Greek Cypriots nor for the Turkish Cypriots". On the other hand, it is noted, "he was in favor of taking additional confidence-building measures in the context of a broader positive agenda."
"It is important, the Cypriot MP said, for the Council of Europe to encourage the sides to return to dialogue, but also to condemn actions that are in conflict with the relevant UN resolutions," it is reported. The news accomplished with the opening and the planned settlement of the closed area of Famagusta, not only undermine the prospects of the resumption of negotiations, but possibly bury the prospects of resolving the Cyprus problem, said Mr. Loukaidis, according to the announcement.
It is noted that the representative of the Turkish Cypriot community in the Assembly, a member of the National Unity party, Oguzhan Hasipoglou, "putting forward the well-known allegations about the alleged isolation of the Turkish Cypriot community, characterized the Report as biased, as he claimed, it does not reflect the true image of the Turkish Cypriots" and requested by the Rapporteur to suspend the process of drawing up the final text, a request which was rejected by Mr Fassino.