H.E. Dr. Michalis Stavrinos:

I thank the Chairman for his welcoming remarks and for his expression of sympathy to the family of the late minister. I thank the committee for the honour and the privilege of addressing it on a very important issue of European and international interest.
To examine the prospects of achieving a lasting solution to the Cyprus issue, we need to clarify from the beginning the legal and political parameters of the problem. Cyprus became an independent state in 1960. On 15 July 1974, the military junta then ruling Greece, with the collusion of a handful of Greek Cypriot collaborators on the island, carried out a coup to overthrow the democratically-elected government of Cyprus. Although during the five days until the date of the Turkish invasion, 20 July, not a single Turkish Cypriot was killed or even injured Ankara, using the coup as a pretext and in violation of the UN charter, the rules of international law and the Treaty of Guarantee of Cyprus to which it is a signatory, invaded Cyprus purportedly to restore constitutional order. Even if such a pretext had, for argument's sake, any value, constitutional order was restored three days after the Turkish invasion. However, instead of withdrawing its forces, Turkey occupied 36.2% of the territory of the country, and has continued to do so for the past 40 years, in spite of UN resolutions calling for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Cyprus.
It suffices at this juncture to stress the following point. It is a paradox, to say the least, for a country occupying EU territory, to even commence accession talks for joining the EU, let alone progress in such a course, while continuing to violate the sovereignty of a member state and fully disregarding all relevant values and principles enshrined in the treaties of the Union. Impunity for Turkish aggression sends the wrong signal regarding the acceptability or legality of these acts.
I come now to the efforts to solve the political problem of Cyprus. As the Chairman mentioned, successive rounds of UN-sponsored talks over these years have been unsuccessful, always due to the Turkish intransigence. In 2004, a proposal by the then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan for a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem, was put to simultaneous referenda before the two communities of Cyprus. A total of 75.8% of Greek Cypriots voted against this specific plan, while 64.9% of Turkish Cypriots voted in favour. However, it was only when illegal settlers from Turkey, who have no legal right to vote, were allowed to do so that this result was achieved. The Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot votes can easily be explained by the following elements, which were not widely known internationally. The Annan plan legitimised the presence of nearly all illegal settlers from Turkey, who outnumber the Turkish Cypriots. It provided for the permanent presence of Turkish troops on Cyprus, and afforded Turkey the right to intervene in Cyprus as it saw fit. Yet the most abhorrent widespread provisions of the plan were those depriving all Cypriots of fundamental rights guaranteed for every other EU citizen, such as the right to settle in their ancestral homes in the occupied part of Cyprus and exercise their democratic right to own a property, irrespective of the bizonal and bicommunal administrative arrangements of the proposed solution. The negative outcome of the referendum rendered the Annan plan null and void.
Some valuable time was lost recently due to the Turkish side's decision not to have any contact with Cyprus during the Cypriot Presidency of the EU, and to wait passively for the result of the presidential elections in Cyprus which took place a year ago. As soon as it assumed its duties, the Government of President Anastasiades focused on dealing with the financial crisis that struck Cyprus last March and applied itself to the Cyprus issue in the autumn of 2013. Following the insistence of the Greek Cypriot side on the need for defining and reaffirming the parameters that would be contained in an agreed solution, the two communities of Cyprus spent a period of productive exchanges which led, on 11 February 2014, to a joint communique prescribing the shared principles on which the renewed talks would be based. This development was welcomed as historic by the Secretary-General of the UN, the EU, Greece, Turkey, the UK, the USA, Russia, and the majority of the political forces in both communities.
I will now outline the provisions stipulated in the joint communique. The status quois unacceptable. A settlement would have a positive impact on the entire region, while first and foremost benefiting Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots, respecting democratic principles, human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as each other's distinct identity and integrity and ensuring their common future in a united Cyprus within the European Union. The leaders expressed their determination to resume structured negotiations in a results-oriented manner. All unresolved core issues will be on the table, and will be discussed interdependently. The leaders will aim to reach a settlement as soon as possible, and hold separate simultaneous referenda thereafter.
The settlement will be based on a bicommunal bizonal federation with political equality, as set out in the relevant Security Council resolutions and high-level agreements. The united Cyprus, as a member of the United Nations and of the European Union, shall have a single international legal personality and a single sovereignty, emanating equally from Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. There will be a single united Cyprus citizenship, regulated by federal law. All citizens of the united Cyprus shall also be citizens of either the Greek-Cypriot or the Turkish-Cypriot constituent state. This status shall be internal and shall complement and not substitute in any way the united Cyprus citizenship. Neither side may claim authority or jurisdiction over the other.
The united Cyprus federation shall result from the settlement knowing the settlement's approval by separate simultaneous referenda. The federal constitution shall prescribe that the united Cyprus federation shall be composed of two constituent states of equal status. The bizonal bicommunal nature of the federation, and the principles upon which the EU is founded, will be safeguarded and respected throughout the island. Union in whole or in part with any other country or any form of partition or secession or any other unilateral change to the state of affairs will be prohibited.

The negotiations are based on the principle that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. The appointed representatives are fully empowered to discuss any issue at any time. The leaders of the two communities will meet as often as needed. They retain the ultimate decision-making power. Only an agreement freely reached by the leaders may be put to separate simultaneous referenda. Any kind of arbitration is excluded. The sides will seek to create a positive atmosphere to ensure the talks succeed. They commit to avoiding blame games or other negative public comments on the negotiations. They also commit to efforts to implement confidence building measures that will provide a dynamic impetus to the prospect of a united Cyprus.
The two sides have appointed negotiators who meet each week and examine their respective positions on all aspects of the Cyprus issue. At this stage, it is expected they will complete mapping each side's positions. At a meeting to be held on 31 March 2014, the leaders of the two communities, President Nicos Anastasiades, and the Turkish Cypriot leader, Mr. Dervis Eroglou, will assess the process. Following this first stage of the negotiations, the second stage, which will begin immediately afterwards, will concentrate on narrowing the gaps between the positions expressed by the two sides. Despite the general positive atmosphere, statements by Turkish and Turkish Cypriot officials still talking today about two "peoples", two "states", two "sovereignties", etc., leave limited space for justified optimism. However, the firm commitment of the Greek Cypriot side to continue unabatedly towards achieving a viable solution based on international and European law accompanied by the renewed interest of the UN, the EU, the US and other international actors in safeguarding a secure corridor of stability, peace and security as well as a safe alternative energy supply source for Europe within a volatile and explosive broader region allow us to look to this renewed effort with reserved optimism despite positions expressed by one side in violation of the agreed communiqué. At the same time, a Turkish naval research vessel, the Barbaras, violates systematically the territorial sea and the exclusive economic zone, EEZ, of Cyprus, despite calls by the UN, EU, US and Russia for respect for Cyprus's maritime zones.
New elements in the broader equation, including the discovery of significant amounts of natural gas in the EEZ of Cyprus and the adjacent EEZ of Israel and Egypt, as well as the parallel initiatives for the construction of a liquified natural gas, LNG, station in Cyprus and-or a south-eastern Mediterranean pipeline to provide Europe with alternative energy supply lines, create an unprecedented conducive environment to establish on a reunited island the much needed peaceful co-operation and prosperity for all stakeholders involved. In the meantime, confidence building measures, especially, the acceptance of the proposal for the return of the ghost city of Famagusta to its legitimate citizens, are a must as they would permit a better climate to boost reconciliation. Such a gesture on behalf of Turkey, which is also demanded by Security Council Resolution 550 of 1984, would also allow benefits for all parties involved, including Turkey.
I would like to underline that a lasting solution of the Cyprus problem in strict compliance with international and European legality would be a win-win situation for the two communities on the island, Turkey itself, the EU, broader western interests and the entire region, and they would provide for an enhancement of global stability. In the strenuous efforts to positively exploit this very promising new prospect, the firm support of every single actor is highly valued in order not to miss such a unique opportunity. In this regard, I consider the involvement and initiative of the Chairman and members of the committee as a valuable one and I thank them for their interest and the opportunity offered to me to brief them on the latest developments. A visit by an Irish parliamentary mission to Cyprus in support of the ongoing peace talks on the above described principles might be a good idea to be explored. I express once again the appreciation and gratitude of the Government and people of Cyprus to the Irish people for their continued principled support as expressed by successive Irish Governments. The committee's meeting with the ambassador of Turkey in the near future on the same issue will offer it the opportunity to express to the key actor its principled commitment to a lasting solution of the Cyprus problem based on international and European law, which will also relieve Turkey from its most serious impediment towards accession to the EU. We cannot afford the luxury of missing such an historic opportunity. I thank the committee very much for its attention and I am at members' disposal for any questions or clarifications they might ask.