Brussels, 05/10/2000 (Agence Europe) - Following the adoption, by the EP, of the report devoted by Jacques Poos to Cyprus' request for membership (see yesterday's EUROPE, pp.15/16), Ambassador Nihat Akyol, permanent representative for Turkey with the EU, expressed his "deep concern" for, among other things, the following reasons:
1. The tone of the paragraphs devoted to Turkey is aggressive and not compatible with the positive and constructive spirit that should now govern Euro-Turkish relations and elaboration of the Accession Partnership.
2. The report marks a break with the general concern for caution that surrounded the drafting of the earlier reports. The European Council of Helsinki "did not endorse automatic accession by Cyprus, but confirmed that the final decision will be taken bearing in mind all the elements of the dossier for which the European Commission has continued to stress the complex and sensitive nature". The report interferes directly in the discussions on the Cypriot question taking place under the auspices of the United Nations Secretary General. The position of the Parliament is of a kind that will cause trouble in the minds of the two Cypriot parties and compromise the climate of confidence that such negotiations require, which comes very much under the EP's responsibility, states the ambassador.
3. The rapporteur "completely neglected" the historical context at the origin of the conflict, which meant he recommended to the Turkish-Cypriot party an attitude incompatible with the guidelines of the UN Secretary General, as for example, that of "joining unconditionally the delegation of the legal Cypriot government" - which would be tantamount to breaking the fragile balance of the negotiation as a whole".
The Ambassador recalls that the summit of Helsinki had the merit of legally disassociating the Cypriot dossier and Turkey's membership process. He felt that the EP resolution would not facilitate the search for just and lasting peace in Cyprus.