Brussels, 19/06/2001 (Agence Europe) - The Luxembourg Socialist, Jacques Poos, European Parliament rapporteur on the EU accession request by Cyprus, challenged in a Communiqué the reproach of partiality raised by two of his colleagues, by noting that this reproach, in fact, is addressed more to himself, the United Nations, Council, the Commission and the Court of Human Rights (which recently condemned Turkey for violations of human rights committed in the occupied section of the island). The position ruled clearly, namely that the Republic of Cyprus is internationally recognised to represent the whole island, will not be brought into question" said Mr Poos, when answering in particular his colleague Andrew Duff (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.7).
Furthermore, Mr Poos answered the letter for the Turkish Ambassador to the EU, Nihat Akyol, sent on 14 June to the members of the EP Foreign Affairs Committee (except the Greek members), stating that the conclusions of its draft report are "neither partial nor radical", and that their aim is not to block the negotiations, but to contribute toward freeing them. This blockage is urgent and Turkey could contribute significantly, said the deputy Turkish Ambassador. He adds:
Mr Akyol raises the status of guarantor to Cyprus attributed to Turkey; however, says Mr Poos, before the opening of the negotiations with Cyprus, the legal implications of this status had been "carefully examined by the EU Council".
According to Mr Akyol, the draft report marks a "break with the general concern for prudence" concerning the negotiations with Cyprus; the rapporteur answers that, at the stage we are at - there remains a little less than one year to find a political solution - it serves nothing to use hollow formulas (…); the position taken by the European Parliament must, on the contrary, be explicit and contribute toward a solution based on international law and the Community acquis. This reference to the Community acquis is not an interference in the negotiations lead under the auspices of the United Nations, underlines Mr Poos in his letter, while noting that Cyprus and Turkey are both accession candidates, respect for the Community acquis will guarantee the medium-term viability of the political solutions to the Cypriot problem.
It is true that the report does not cite the events of 1963 in Cyprus, nor other intercommunity conflicts that occurred in the past, but the report on the state of progress of an accession candidate country "cannot be a summary of history". On the other hand, it is entirely erroneous to assert that the draft report would continually accuse the Turkish part. On the contrary, it examined the issue under an international perspective (with many references to international law) and European in the shadow of the Copenhagen criteria, said Mr Poos.
The report does criticise the withdrawal of the Turkish Cypriot leader from the talks under the auspices of the United Nations, but one cannot say that Mr Denktash has acted in this way due to the direct fallout of the EU decision to reopen accession negotiations with Cyprus. Mr Denktash, recalls Mr Poos, had withdrawn from the UN process in November 2000, while the decision to reopen the negotiations with Cyprus had been taken by the European Council in December 1997. The truth is that Mr Denktash slammed the door because he was in disagreement with the latest proposal from Kofi Annan, which foresee a Cyprus with a single entity, formed of two constituent States of which each would be provided with a degree of autonomy, proposal which remains the only valid basis for a political solution, concluded Mr Poos.