Joint Statement of AKEL and CTP  “The efforts for the reunification must become a priority”20th of March, 2021In preparation to the forthcoming informal meeting on Cyprus, vision and commitment to the reunification of our Island in line with the UN basis must prevail at all levels within both communities.

In this respect, cooperation and solidarity should be utmost priorities in both communities, not only on efforts aimed at the resumption of formal negotiations, but also on the management of the ongoing pandemic related challenges.Our two parties, AKEL and CTP, firmly believe that the two sides must resume sincere dialogue aimed at the earliest resumption of formal negotiations for the comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem on the agreed basis. Negotiations must be meaningful and result oriented with the sense of urgency. This goal is reachable provided that the procedure is based on the convergences reached by the two sides, the Joint Declaration of the two leaders and the Guterres Framework, as outlined on the UN statement following the informal meeting in Berlin on the 25th of November 2019. The re-visiting of the already agreed issues will only complicate and delay the dialogue.The ultimate goal must be to reach to a strategic political agreement on a bi-zonal and bi-communal federal solution with political equality, in full line with all relevant UN resolutions and parameters.Failure to reach this goal will prolong the status quo, deepen the division further and drift the communities further apart. The status quo is not static and is leading to the escalation of consequent implications, which are detrimental to lasting peace, security and prosperity. This is certainly valid on the Island, as well as within the region.We reiterate our call upon the leaders to take the necessary joint preventive measures and normalize movement across the crossings. By following the advice of health scientists, conditions for safe crossings must be determined, adopted and implemented without further delay. Our parties stand ready to support such moves in every way possible.We salute the facilitation of the Bi-communal Technical Committee on Health in regards to the supply of the EU vaccines to the Turkish Cypriot Community. The vaccines should be distributed in line with the principles of consistency and proportion. In the interest of public health safety, continuation of the work should be intensified within the spirit of cooperation and solidarity.Our two parties remain committed to support all efforts aimed at  preparations in both communities to the federal solution. Prior to the forthcoming meeting, these efforts should be strengthened by mobilizing civil society organizations and movements. Within this framework, we will strive to broaden our cooperation, mutual understanding and rapprochement of the two communities at all levels.