Awarding citizenship of the Republic of Cyprus to children born to one parent who is Turkish Cypriot and one who is a third-country national cannot be considered a confidence-building measure, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said on Wednesday, after the day’s National Council meeting.
He was asked about the seven topics upon which Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman had said United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had demanded progress during his visit to the island in July, and was keen to bat away suggestions of awarding citizenship to people dubbed “mixed marriage” children.
“Regarding the issue of citizenship, we have repeatedly explained that this cannot be considered a confidence-building measure, as it is based on fundamental legislative provisions and, of course, touches upon European Union status,” he said.
He added that at present, applications for citizenship submitted by “mixed marriage” children are “examined based on established criteria”, and pointed out that it was under the current government that the examination of those applications resumed in 2024.
The other six points Erhurman had mentioned were crossing points, mine clearance, sports, joint disaster response, and a joint mechanism to combat irregular migration.
On the issue of crossing points, he said that Guterres had “submitted a compromise proposal, as he described it” when he visited the island, and “we accepted [it], and still accept [it] today, but … unfortunately, the other side has not accepted [it]”.
He then turned to the matter of mine clearance, and said that the Greek Cypriot side had submitted a proposal concerning “areas identified by the United Nations” in April last year, but that “this proposal has neither been accepted nor discussed by the other side”.
Greek Cypriot side ‘accepts’ plans for bicommunal natural disaster team
Regarding the prospect of a joint disaster response mechanism, he said that the idea of a technical committee on natural disasters was discussed in New York last week when Greek Cypriot chief negotiator Menelaos Menelaou, Erhurman’s undersecretary Mehmet Dana, UN envoy Maria Angela Holguin, and UN undersecretary-general for peacebuilding Rosemary DiCarlo met.
“We accept the establishment of this technical committee, whereas the other side has expressed reservations,” he said.
On the matter of sports, he made reference to the 2013 agreement which foresaw that the Cyprus Turkish Football Association (CTFA), which was formed after Turkish Cypriots were forbidden from playing at church-owned football grounds 1955, would join the Cyprus Football Association (CFA), thus allowing international recognition of Turkish Cypriot football.
This agreement was never implemented as negotiations to bring about the plan’s realisation stalled over a procedural disagreement. The CFA had wished that the CTFA register in the Republic of Cyprus, but the CTFA insisted that given that its existence predates the republic, its existence should have automatically been recognised.
However, when documentation was requested to prove this, the CTFA did not produce any such documentation, and CFA chairman of the day Costas Koutsokoumnis said that “without it, the procedure cannot continue”.
Letymbiotis on Wednesday also made reference to the bicommunal amateur football match which took place on September 19, and said that another will take place in October.
“Our positions are public, documented, clearly declared, consistent, and steadfast. We stand by them,” he said.
Greek Cypriot side ‘insists on what has been agreed’
He added that the Greek Cypriot side “insists on what has been agreed”, and “specifically, what was agreed upon before the UN secretary-general during the two enlarged meetings and the most recent meeting regarding the agenda for discussion”.
It was for this reason, he said, that President Nikos Christodoulides had put forward his list of 19 proposals at his final meeting with Erhurman prior to both leaders travelling to New York.
He then stressed that “stagnation” on the Cyprus problem is “not a neutral position”, because it constitutes “an attempt to perpetuate the status quo”, which, he said, “cannot be the horizon for the Cyprus problem”.
“We do not have the luxury of inaction,” he said, stressing that “we will not allow Turkish intransigence or their delaying tactics to lead us to abandon the effort to achieve our ultimate goal, the resolution of the Cyprus problem.”
Asked whether the Greek Cypriot side has any “thoughts” regarding the forthcoming expiry of Antonio Guterres’ term and the election of a new UN secretary-general, he said, “certainly, though we are not at this stage yet”.
He stressed that Guterres had, during his visit to the island in July, “set at his goal … to achieve substantive progress on the Cyprus issue before his term ends”.
“There is still time remaining in the UN secretary-general’s term. In any case, however, we must bear in mind the source of the terms of reference of both the incumbent UN secretary-general and any UN secretary-general,” he said.
He added that “the mandate of the UN secretary-general derives from the UN security council resolutions, which clearly and repeatedly define, specify, describe, and set out the agreed framework”.
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