Foreign Ministry: Turkish commando forces ready to intervene in the dead zone

There is information that in addition to strengthening their outposts in the dead zone, the Turks have commando forces in the rear ready to intervene, said today the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ioannis Kasoulidis, adding that almost every week we have an episode in the dead zone from the Turkish side army.

Speaking before the Parliamentary Finance Committee, during the debate on the budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for 2023, Mr. Kasoulidis said that at the slightest moment when a farmer goes to cultivate his land inside the buffer zone, the Turkish soldiers come out, they create an episode .

He also said that there had been a mobilization in Astromeritis "after a farmer was harassed, completely unjustifiably, to allow twenty of our tractors to enter the dead zone. They didn't get in in the end luckily, but if they did we would have seen commando forces, Land Rovers and whatnot they had packed in there to go and deal with such a situation. That's why we have to be very careful," said Mr. Kasoulidis.

Mr. Kasoulidis also said that Turkey is currently launching a massive, multi-front attack against the Republic of Cyprus. "We are going through a period of transition, the last months of the current government and the next few months until the new government finds its feet. In this period, Turkey chose to take advantage", he said, noting that next are the Greek elections and then the Turkish elections.

Referring to the topic of illegal Turkish drilling, he said that the information that existed was that they would come to plot 6 or plot 4. Regarding the issue of Famagusta, Mr. Kasoulidis referred to the statements made regarding the opening of public buildings and an area of ​​Agios Memnon. He said that he chose the path of publicizing the dangers that exist because he believes that it was the most effective way to prevent it. "We need to focus more on preventing these events from happening than saying what we will do if they do happen," he said.

The Foreign Minister said that negotiations were made and he knows that diplomatic efforts were made by foreign countries and the UN to prevent it and that there were two developments. As he noted, the drilling vessel "Abdulhamit Khan" left where it was and returned back, after drilling in territorial waters not disputed by us and in Famagusta, at least, at the moment, those announced will not be carried out.

Mr. Kasoulidis stated that "we have never abandoned the direction of imposing sanctions against Turkey. But we want these sanctions to be effective. For this I would first consult with partners, who may veto and not let anything go forward, and then file a request for sanctions."

Attempts to upgrade a pseudo-state

Regarding efforts to give equal international status to the pseudo-state, Mr. Kasoulidis referred to the issue of inviting the pseudo-state to attend as an observer at the Organization of Turkic-Speaking States.

We have mobilized and asked for help not only to Dysmas, he said. He said that two Turkish-speaking states, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, where a diplomatic mission was sent from Cyprus, made it clear that they are not going to violate international legality.

Following this, he noted, Turkey asked to change the statute which states that observers must be states or international organizations, pushing to add entities. Mr. Kasoulidis said that Uzbekistan backed down and until today only Kazakhstan remained to resist the change of the statute. But it seems that he does not want to be left alone to resist, he added, noting that if there is a change in the statute, this will be done in order for the pseudo-state to become an observer as an entity, as the Turkish Cypriot community is in the Islamic Conference.

Mr. Kasoulidis that this will not be a good development, but the Turks should realize that the equal international status they seek has no prospect, at least in the foreseeable future.

In relation to the announcement of the Turkish President for good news until the 15th of the month for the opening of offices of the pseudo-state in European countries, Mr. Kasoulidis said that performances were also made with the help of other countries, given that this time there is also the juncture of the effort being made for equal international status in the occupied territories. He noted, further, that there are already pseudo-state offices in many European countries based on private law, as organizations or companies. These offices are not accepted on the diplomatic list nor do they have diplomatic privileges, nor are they invited or related to the Foreign Ministries of the countries, he added.

Pseudo-state efforts for a separate Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the UN

Regarding the efforts of the pseudo-state for a separate status of forces agreement (SOFA) with the UN Secretariat, Mr. Kasoulidis said it is accepted by all that SOFA is made with sovereign states and no such agreement is going to be made. “But they are succumbing to a Turkish blackmail that if no agreement is reached they will prevent UNFICYP from operating from the occupied territories. "We are not going to accept any solution that implies acceptance of the presence of UNFICYP beyond Security Council Resolution 186", stressed the Foreign Minister.

"We have a problem with the fact that the Turks are blackmailing and giving in to the United Nations. Because if they succumb, the next blackmail will come," he said.

"We are very strict. We discuss it. Consultations are continuing for the Cetinkaya stadium and for various others", he said, noting that "if we turn to the Secretariat, their permanent policy is to make a statement and cover their Special Representative and we don't want that".

He also said that "we are disturbed by the way the UNFICYP police force is handling the matter, that they are doing various common criminal law operations, and I warned that our own police will also do a common criminal law matter in Pyla."

Lifting of the US embargo

Speaking on the subject of the lifting of the American embargo on arms sales to Cyprus, the Foreign Minister stated, among other things, that the ban on the docking of the Russian fleet in Cypriot ports was not due to EU sanctions, but a few days after the start of the invasion of Ukraine since from the moment war began, Cyprus could not offer services to the naval forces of an invading country. He also said that the agreement with Russia for the docking of its ships in Cypriot ports was not renewed.

Buildings abroad – Permanent Representation in New York

Mr. Kasoulidis said that many privately owned buildings of the Republic abroad "have their black messes, but unfortunately the administrative process is time-consuming to the point where it comes to our detriment". He gave the example of the Permanent Mission building in New York which was damaged by fire in 2018. He said a delegation from Public Works and other agencies visited the site and returned without progress on the building. He said that the Republic is currently paying $1 million a year to rent another building for the purpose of housing the Permanent Mission.

New embassies

Mr. Kasoulidis said that in 2023 they plan to reopen embassies in Nairobi and Jakarta as well as new embassies in Buenos Aires and Bahrain. They also intend to re-open the Embassy in Mexico possibly in 2024. The goal of opening an embassy in Addis Ababa, the seat of the African Union, also remains.

migration

For the management of immigration, Mr. Kasoulidis said he has requested to hold meetings with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Tunisia, Congo and Cameroon with the aim of concluding readmission agreements.

Budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Mr. Kasoulidis said that the budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs constitutes 1% of the budget of the entire state and is the smallest of all the other Ministries of the Republic.

The total budget of the Ministry for 2023 amounts to 102.923.584 euros. Of these, 88.865.374 euros concern regular expenses and 14.058.210 development expenses.

Referring to the issue of understaffing, he said that they agreed with the Minister of Finance for the purpose of filling the vacant positions that there will be 8 new positions in 2021, 10 new positions in 2022 and the process for another 10 will begin, and by 2025 there will be a total of 50 of posts to fill the vacancies.

Regarding the staffing related to the vision of the Ministry, Mr. Kasoulidis said that there was an agreement with the Ministry of Finance, to strengthen the staff with another 50 new positions.

In relation to the restoration of expatriate allowances that were affected during the financial crisis, he stated that the issue of the general expatriate allowance was referred for restoration to the Joint Personnel Committee. For rent allowances, it was agreed with the Ministry of Finance that there would be an increase of 10% in 2023 and another 5% in 2024. He also said that the education allowance was fully restored.

Members of Parliament

The Chairwoman of the Finance Committee, member of parliament of DIKO, Christiana Erotokritou, referring during the session to the issue of the restoration of the building of the Permanent Representation in New York, wondered how the building burned down four years ago and has not yet been repaired. "Whatever you bring us, I promise that I will hold an extraordinary session of the Finance Committee to resolve this issue. It is unacceptable to own a building in New York and live in an adjacent building and pay rent," he said. He also said that "whoever is responsible will face the corresponding treatment from us at the level of the budget and the funds he expects to receive".

DISY MP, Haris Georgiadis, said that he is satisfied with the fact that the budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs over the last 10 years, from 63 million in 2013, is now 103 million.

DISY MP Savia Orfanidou, in her statement after the session, expressed her satisfaction with the strategy being followed in terms of foreign policy at all levels, as analyzed by Mr. Kasoulidis. He added that the Republic of Cyprus has and must have a clear orientation as a member state of the EU and must seek good relations with all democratic states but especially with countries such as the USA and our neighboring countries.

The Parliamentary Representative of AKEL, Giorgos Loukaidis, speaking during the session and in statements afterwards, spoke of "flirtation with two states that we had on the part of Mr. Anastasiadis, regressions, contradictions, inconsistency in what we say and do in everything it concerns the attempt to restart the negotiations and with regard to the negotiated acquis". At the same time, he expressed satisfaction with the further staffing of the Ministry. He said, among other things, that the budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should be increased significantly. He said that with Mr. Kasoulidis there is a great identification of opinions based on his reaction to remarks they had made and they agreed that the best way to deal with the Turkish provocation is to prove that we are the side that seeks a solution to the Cyprus issue.

The ELAM MP, Sotiris Ioannou, expressed his assessment that we did not have any results from the confidence building measures.

EDEK Member of Parliament, Kostis Efstathiou, said that it is sad that in an occupied country the budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is 1% of the state budget.

The MP of the Environmentalists Movement - Citizens' Cooperation, Alexandra Attalidou, speaking during the session and in statements afterwards, said that the budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must be increased as well as its staff and that the funds for foreign benefits must be returned to the levels before the crisis. He also mentioned, among other things, that talks on agreements for the repatriation of people whose asylum applications are rejected are fortunately at an advanced stage with the Congo and there are contacts with African countries. He also said that on the issue of Famagusta we should react with diplomatic means much faster.

Source: sigmalive