Brussels, 13/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 12 November, the Cypriots and Greeks, along with MEPs, condemned the words of Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan denying the existence of Cyprus. The European Commission reiterated that it urged any type of threat to be avoided, as well as any source of friction or action likely to damage good neighbourly relations.
The spokesperson for the Republic of Cyprus, Christos Stylianides, expressed his “surprise and grave concern” about Erdogan's statements. Although the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities are working on a joint statement aiming to relaunch talks, “Erdogan should rather show his good will and prove in a tangible manner his repeated statements for a quick solution”, Stylianides added. In the view of the spokesperson for Greece's Foreign Affairs Minister Konstantinos Koutras, “the Turkish prime minister's disputing the very existence of the Republic of Cyprus should finally awaken the international community as to Turkey's true intentions regarding the Cyprus issue”. He added that any other comment on this issue is extraneous.
Cyprus internationally recognised. While recalling that the Commission does not comment on statements or their interpretation in the media, Peter Stano, the spokesperson for Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Füle, reiterated the 2013 strategy on enlargement. In this, “the Commission urges the avoidance of any kind of threat, source of friction or action that could damage good neighbourly relations and the peaceful settlement of disputes. Turkey's commitment and contribution in concrete terms to a comprehensive settlement to the Cyprus issue is crucial.” Stano stated that “the EU has 28 member states who are internationally recognised and one of them is also Cyprus”. On 21 September 2005, the EU adopted a statement which recalls that Turkey must apply the Ankara protocol, recognise all the member states and normalise its relations with them.
In a joint press release, EPP MEPs Eleni Theocharous (Cyprus) and Marietta Gainnakou (Greece) condemned Erdogan's remarks, deeming them unacceptable and an insult to the EU and international law. According to Greek media, the MEPs Takis Hadjigeorgiou (GUE) and Sophocles Sophocleus (S&D) have reportedly send letters to the Commission asking for clarification on its position and for condemnation of Erdogan's words.
Erdogan believed that including Cyprus in the 2004 EU enlargement was politically motivated. “They did not admit them because they were in harmony with EU laws. They admitted them in a political decision. I will give you an example of this. One of them is south Cyprus. Pay attention! They admitted it as Cyprus. There is no country called Cyprus. There is the local administration of south Cyprus”, he reportedly said, according to the Turkish Cypriot newspaper Kibris. (CG/transl.fl)