Brussels, 29/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - Cypriot Foreign Minister Erato Kazakou-Marcoullis says that Turkey's refusal to invite her country to take part in the “Friends of Syria” meeting in Istanbul on 1 April is “a major problem for the European Union”. “All EU member states have been invited to the Istanbul meeting, with the exception of Cyprus. This is a major problem for us. And it is a major problem for the European Union”, she said in an interview published in the Belgian daily Le Soir. “It is unacceptable that a candidate country should be able to decide who from the EU it wants to invite. Turkey has no right to act like this towards the EU!” she added.
A diplomatic source has revealed that talks are being held between the EU and Turkey on this issue.
The minister added that the meeting of the Friends of Syria “concerns the EU, not any single member state”. Pointing out that “everyone was in Tunis” for the first meeting, she stated that “Cyprus is the closest country to Syrian and the region. We are only some 100 kilometres from Syria and Lebanon”. (CG/transl.rt)