President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades bemoaned the inability of the UN to solve the division of the island in his last speech as President at the General Assembly on Friday.
“I might have not been able to see my homeland reunited, with my Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot compatriots living in conditions of peace, prosperity, and stability,” he said.
“However, I earnestly hope that during my lifetime, I will be able to witness a better and more stable future for humanity,” Anastasiades said with hope.
As his presidency wraps up, he questioned the effectiveness of the UN.
“How is it then that we come back again and again, year after year, as a kind of ritual, to attest to the dismal lack of effectiveness for some and the embellishment attempt for others, for what is in fact our inability to fulfill the aims of the UN Charter?” he inquired.
“Why do the decisions of the Security Council remain in their overwhelming majority sheer certificates attesting violations?” he questioned. “Why are international law and international agreements not implemented? Why do strategies and programs, aiming at creating better conditions for people that are suffering, remain wishful thinking?”
Anastasiades calls on the UN to make bold decisions
Calling himself a “romantic ideologist,” Anastasiades told the members of the general assembly present that bold but necessary decisions regarding the set-up of the organization were imperative in light of recent world events “with the imminent danger after 77 years of a new World War, following the illegal invasion of Russia [in] Ukraine.”
“A global order which ensures that peace, security, human rights and sustainable development remain the highest values which we undertake to preserve and hold,” is what he called for and “political will and determination to proceed with the reform and modernization of the UN to a just, effective and efficient multilateral governance system.”
Decisions on Cyprus are not implemented, Anastasiades says
The island’s soon-to-be former President then highlighted the parallels of his argument with the realities in Cyprus and the ongoing division and occupation by Turkish forces, reiterating his point that “when decisions or resolutions based on international law are not to be implemented or enforced, then this, rightly so, could be perceived as fostering or even rewarding arbitrariness.”
“This is what we are actually witnessing today with the Cyprus problem,” Anastasiades said. “Turkey, which systematically violates international law, calls on the international community to recognize its illegal fait accomplis.”
How provocative is it for the President of Turkey to express the desire to resolve disputes “in conformity with international law”, when he refuses to implement numerous resolutions of the United Nations on the Cyprus Problem and instead creates new fait accomplis? pic.twitter.com/8UjypPFRWp
— Nicos Anastasiades (@AnastasiadesCY) September 23, 2022
“And as I have emphasized, the only way forward in resolving conflicts and for peace to prevail is none other than the unwavering adherence to international law and the UN Charter, not as arbitrarily interpreted by those who seek to disguise their revisionist aspirations,” Anastasiades stressed.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
