U.S. Ambassador to Cyprus Koenig Offers Eastern Mediterranean Remarks

The open discussion was facilitated by the U.S. Embassy in Cyprus and the University of Cyprus. Participants in the audience asked the diplomat a series of questions concerning the island.

When queried over the 40,000 Turkish soldiers and thousands of island dwellers, Ambassador Koenig stated, "I personally do not regard the Cyprus issue as essentially a problem of invasion and occupation. If you don't like it, I can't help it. I do not regard that as the core of the Cyprus problem," as reported by Parikiaki.

The American delegate added, "That is a huge problem however and the mechanism exist in order to reconcile the issues and it is the Cyprus settlement negotiations which take place under the aegis of the United Nations. This will address all of the issues related to the Cyprus conflict."

Ambassador Koenig further commented on the nation, "the Cyprus conflict of course began 51 years ago and in that context of course it took a huge and tragic turn in 1974 and I am not in any way justifying what happened then, but it cannot be reduced to a problem of invasion and occupation. That is in fact to ignore your own history".

The Ambassador also discussed Turkey's participation, "...you have many things to deal with apart from Turkey's presence on this island, the presence of Turkish troops which we do not support or accept, the presence of settlers which we do not condone. These all are issues that however need to be addressed in the context of settlement negotiations and we have to take into consideration the views of the Turkish Cypriot community as well".

Koenig finished his remarks with, "As an American who has spent most of his life living with your successes and setbacks, your hopes and concerns, I promise I will never stop doing what I can to help you realize your vision of a reunited island. But it's up to you the Cypriots to reclaim the Cyprus dream".

(Source: Parikiaki)

(Photo Source: U.S. State Department)