Turkey slams EU for ‘ignoring’ TCs

TURKEY has slammed the European Union for ignoring the Turkish Cypriots in a statement issued following an EU Council meeting in Brussels.

In its “conclusions” regarding Turkey, the EU Council said that it remains “fully committed to the comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem on the basis of a bicommunal, bizonal federation with political equality, in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions”.

The EU Council also underlined the “importance of the status of Varosha [Maraş]” and called for “full respect of UN Security Council Resolutions, in particular Resolutions 550, 789 and 1251”.

The statement added that it “regrets that the informal meeting in Geneva [in April] under the auspices of the United Nations did not pave the way for the resumption of formal negotiations” and that the EU “will continue to play an active role in supporting the process”.

A written statement from the Turkish Foreign Ministry said the Brussels summit conclusions concerning Cyprus “are, as usual, a repetition of the views of the Greek-Greek Cypriot duo”.

The statement continued: “The EU, with this stance, once again ignores the Turkish Cypriots and disregards their equal rights. It is not possible for the EU to make a constructive contribution to the Cyprus issue as long as it maintains this stance.

“On this occasion, we once again call on the EU to acknowledge the realities on the island, to recognise the existence of Turkish Cypriots and their inherent equal rights, and to honour its 2004 commitments.”