Tatar: EU should adopt a ‘new vision’ on Cyprus
THE EU should adopt a “new vision” on Cyprus and end the embargoes on the TRNC, President Ersin Tatar told a top European Commission (EC) official and his delegation who visited him.
Mr Tatar made the comments during a meeting with EC Director General for Structural Reform Support Mario Nava.
Mr Tatar told Mr Nava – who last September said that the EU had “not imposed an embargo on the Turkish Cypriot community” – that the EU has for many years “overlooked the legitimate rights” of Turkish Cypriots and that its political stance poses “a significant obstacle to a settlement,” according to his spokesperson Berna Çelik Doğruyol.
“A solution, stability, and cooperation in Cyprus” can be possible when “the inherent rights and the absolute equality of both sides” are respected, meaning that the EU should “review its policies on Cyprus for peace, stability, and cooperation”, Mr Tatar said.
He also reminded the EU officials of an “undertaking” made by the Council of the European Union in April 2004, following the failed Annan Plan, calling on the end of the “unjust and baseless isolation and restrictions on the Turkish Cypriots”.
“Mario Nava has stated that they will support a settlement that is to be mutually accepted by both sides,” Ms Doğruyol added.
Representatives of the Cyprus Turkish Chamber of Commerce also met Mr Nava, who said he had a “productive discussion” about economic opportunities, “including the Halloumi/Hellim PDO [protected designation of origin] package”.
Turkish Cypriot hellim producers are “working on improving standards” through the EU’s aid programme, he added.
During his time in the TRNC Mr Nava also visited a number of EU-funded projects.
“It is a pleasure to see the progress made in the `Turkish Cypriot community thanks to the EU Aid Programme,” Mr Nava said.
He also spent time in the South, meeting Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Cypriot negotiator Andreas Mavroyiannis.
Mario Nava, centre, during a walkabout in the capital