The occupation regime bristles at Abbas’s visit to Nicosia: its “foreign ministry” speaks of “sorrow”

The regime that illegally holds the occupied north of Cyprus did not like Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s visit to the Republic of Cyprus. The so-called “foreign ministry” of the pseudo-state posted a statement on Thursday, October 29, shortly before noon, about Abbas’s presence in Nicosia. The trigger was that in his meeting with President Nikos Christodoulides they would also discuss the Cyprus problem, something it says was “noted with care”.

In the text the Republic of Cyprus is referred to, in the standard Turkish terminology, as the “Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus” and President Christodoulides as its “leader”. The occupying side claims that the visit took place “ignoring the will of the Turkish Cypriot people” and that Turkish Cypriots received it “with sorrow”, invoking “two separate peoples and two separate states” on the island. The Republic of Cyprus is the only internationally recognised state on the island, and the UN Security Council has condemned the declaration of the pseudo-state as legally invalid.

At the same time, the statement tries not to open a front with the Palestinians. It recalls that Turkish Cypriots “wholeheartedly” support the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and “legitimate struggle”, and stresses, in the name of that solidarity, the expectation that the “legitimate rights and sensitivities” of the pseudo-state will be taken into account. It closes by declaring that the occupation regime is “always open” to dialogue and mutual understanding with the “friendly” Palestinian people and their administration, and expects the contacts to evolve in that direction.

What was said in Nicosia

The visit began on Wednesday, October 28, at the invitation of the Cypriot President, and lasted two days. Abbas’s delegation, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, included PLO Executive Committee member Ziad Abu Amr, General Intelligence Service chief Majed Faraj, diplomatic adviser Majdi al-Khaldi and Palestine’s ambassador in Nicosia, Abdallah Attari. It is the third meeting of the two presidents since Christodoulides was elected.

At the joint press conference, reported by WAFA, Abbas praised Cyprus’s support for Palestinian rights and recalled that Nicosia recognised the State of Palestine as early as 1988. He expressed hope that the new Israeli government, once formed, will open the way to serious political dialogue, and hoped Cyprus would play a positive role and help bridge differences, thanks to its geographical position and its relations in the region. Christodoulides repeated that Nicosia’s position on the Palestinian question rests on UN resolutions. He noted that most of Cyprus’s humanitarian aid goes to Palestine and that Palestinians are trained at the CYCLOPS centre in Larnaca.

At the working lunch at the Presidential Palace, which the Cyprus Presidency describes, Abbas went a step further and spoke openly of a mediating role for Cyprus. “You also have excellent relations, and rightly so, with Israel, so you can play a role in mediating between the two sides,” he said through an interpreter, adding that the solution must be based “on international legitimacy and Security Council resolutions”. He also said he feels at home in Cyprus and that countries such as Spain, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands have taken positions almost identical to the Palestinian one. Christodoulides had said earlier that the Republic of Cyprus “is ready to play any role” Abbas considers useful for cooperation in the region and that, as an EU member state, it conveys its neighbours’ concerns to Europe. “We cannot change geography,” he noted.

The occupied north’s reaction was not the only one. Even before Abbas arrived, Turkish media had commented on the visit with irritation. The pressure of Ankara’s moves in the occupied areas continues, with the AKP office in occupied Nicosia, while the Republic of Cyprus insists that Famagusta is the most important confidence-building measure.