Address by the President of the United Democrats,

Praxoula Antoniadou Kyriacou,

At the bicommunal meeting co-organised with the New Cyprus Party,

on Tuesday 13^th April, in Nicosia, Cyprus.

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''We also need to create conditions of trust between Greece and Turkey and between the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots, for without trust no legal form of an agreement will survive through time.'' He also emphasized that without the prospect of accession to the European Union, Turkey will have no incentive to move towards the resolution of the Cyprus problem.

Prime Minister Papandreou said that time is of the essence, since the nature of a problem gets more complicated as time progresses.                                        

And last but not least, he emphasized that ''the solution of the Cyprus problem will constitute a major achievement for world peace'', reminding us what the whole international community is indicating to us, that the reunification of Cyprus will set a bright example for the resolution of other long lasting conflicts in the world.

In a similar call for peace, on 27^th February, Prime Minister Erdoğan talked to Cypriots about his vision of converting the Eastern Mediterranean into an area of peace, cooperation and stability, that will bring benefits to all.

''It is time'', he said, ''to stop investing in military equipment and start investing in people''. He even found the courage to speak about withdrawing the Turkish army from Cyprus if an agreement is found, at a time when he is in direct conflict with the army at home.

He made it obvious that he would like to see the EU accession process of Turkey proceed and that he would like to see progress being achieved in the bicommunal dialogue for the solution of the Cyprus problem, on the basis of a bizonal bicommunal federation with political equality as defined in relevant UN resolutions.

These statements by the Prime Ministers of Greece and Turkey should make us aware that times are changing. And they are changing in a way that creates opportunities that have to be exploited before they pass us by.

At the meeting of the foreign minister of Turkey with the deputy foreign minister of Greece last week in Ankara, Mr. Davutoğlu reiterated what Prime Minister Erdoğan had said and he reminded us of the earthquake diplomacy of 1999, while Mr. Droutsas spoke of the peace dividend that the solution will bring.

This is indeed the message that Three Ladies first presented in their Day After report of March 2008 about the economic opportunities to follow the reunification of Cyprus. The authors, Özlem Oğuz, Fiona Mullen and Praxoula Kyriacou, had based their estimates on the picking up of external transactions between Greece and Turkey that had followed the process of normalisation of political relations between the two countries, as this normalisation was initiated by the then respective ministers of foreign affairs, Mr. George Papandreou and the late İsmail Cem in 1999.

And if a peace dividend of 12000 euro per family per year awaits the Cypriots once their country reunifies, or 33000 new jobs await the unemployed then the Cypriots need to know about it; especially at a time when economic recession is testing the whole of Cyprus. The reunification of Cyprus will in the end be also the answer to the current economic misfortunes; and no one can take this lightly.

Leaders have to come out and assume their responsibilities letting people know about the truth, in all its dimensions.

Another truth that has to be told concerns the slogan ''solution by the Cypriots for the Cypriots''. For such a slogan is blindfolding and can boomerang under certain very probable conditions. For indeed,

- how can the solution of the Cyprus problem include the withdrawal of Turkish troops, if Turkey does not form part of the negotiating picture and hence of the solution?

-How can the state of the guarantees be addressed if the guarantor powers spelled out in the 1960 agreements that founded the Republic of Cyprus do not form part of the negotiating framework?

-How can the solution of the Cyprus problem be in accordance with the acquis communautaire of the European Union, if the European Union does not have the opportunity to express a defining view as to whether a negotiating position coming from either side is in accordance with the EU acquis?

-And finally, how faithful will the Greek Cypriot side be to its proclamations about a solution by the Cypriots, if Mr. Eroglou gets elected this month as the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community?

Wouldn't everybody suddenly remember the Turkish government and wish -or not wish- that it tries to influence Mr. Eroglou towards pro solution ideas?

The day that pro solution political forces among both the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots start to look upon Turkey to save the day, will be that defining moment in our island's history when the Cypriot political forces proclaiming to be pro-solution will have failed for good; when it will have been proved that instead of looking towards the future of a reunited, peaceful and prosperous country for the Cypriots , the political parties were focusing on inter-party and intra-party politics.

Such shortsightedness will of course boomerang on its bearers, for no party can be as big in half a country than in a united country and no leader or party will again be followed that wasn't brave enough to answer the call of history and courageous enough to explain to the people the contents of this call before it was too late. And blaming it on the will of the people will never do the trick, for people elect leaders to lead, not to follow!

Hence the idea of holding an international conference of all parties that could contribute to the solution of the Cyprus problem needs to materialize; and all involved parties should contribute to finding a formula that would create room for all concerned in this dialogue for peace, rather than using the issue of the formula as a way of preventing this international conference from taking place.

Concerning the adoption of the regulation on direct trade, it is our view that direct trade will anyway obtain as the minimum benefit for the Turkish Cypriots and for Turkey if the negotiations fail. Alternatively it will comprise part of a much larger maximum result for all concerned, if an agreement is found in time and the island reunifies. It is therefore in everybody's best interest to aim at the maximum result of reunification.

But all parties involved need to be convincing in both their words their actions and their speed, at this late hour, that they really mean business and that they want to attain the common goal in time. This is the last opportunity to demonstrate credibility.

Pro solution political forces cannot be taken for granted by anybody. The United Democrats are daring enough to even lead the process -as we have demonstrated with our recent meeting with Prime Minister Erdoğan -and to actively support all genuine efforts of the leaders of the two communities in reaching an agreement on the reunification of Cyprus on the basis of a bizonal bicommunal federation and political equality as defined in relevant UN resolutions. We will not however offer our support to any leader who will fail to answer the call of history.

Nevertheless, to the extent that there is hope, we must act towards its materialization. And despite our view that President Christofias didn't move as decisively as he could have done, we still support him in his genuine efforts for achieving an agreement with the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community and encourage him to move as fast and effectively as possible to reach the commonly agreed goal of reunifying Cyprus on the basis of a bizonal bicommunal federation with political equality as this is defined in the relevant UN resolutions.

In the same way, we call upon our Turkish Cypriot pro solution friends to support Mr. Talat towards the success of the inter-communal talks through the re-election of Mr. Talat to the leadership of the Turkish Cypriot community.

After April, all Cypriot pro-solution forces will then have the legitimate right to call upon the leaders of the two communities to waist no more time and bravely answer the call of history, demonstrating the same kind of political will and vision that Prime Minister Papandreou and Prime Minister Erdoğan are already demonstrating. This is the time that visionary political leaders should lead people along currently uncharted, yet win-win ways for the Cypriots, their neighbours in the Eastern Mediterranean, their European partners and for the younger generations whose quality of life will be determined by the decisions of today.