Cyprus will maintain demand for Turkey to open military archives, minister says

Nicosia, Cyprus. Labour Minister Marinos Mousiouttas said on Sunday that Cyprus would not abandon its demand for Turkey to open its military archives so that the fate of every missing person can be established.

Efforts to resume settlement talks

Speaking at a memorial service for Eoka fighter Spyros Hadjiyiakoumis at Ayia Varvara Church in Nicosia, Mousiouttas said the government was working diplomatically towards an expanded meeting and the resumption of talks from where they broke off at Crans-Montana in 2017, “without losing what has already been agreed”.

He said the framework was clear: a “bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality, as set out in UN Security Council resolutions, with no occupation troops, outdated guarantees or intervention rights for third parties”.

“What is missing is Turkey’s political will,” he said.

Mousiouttas said a two-state solution “would never be accepted” and that the current partition created by the 1974 invasion would “not be given legitimacy”.

Tribute to Hadjiyiakoumis

Paying tribute to Hadjiyiakoumis, Mousiouttas said “every day lived in freedom” in the government-controlled areas was “a gift from people who gave their lives”.