AKEL on the EP Turkey resolution voted in the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 16th March 2016, Nicosia
Positive and negative elements, which have been incorporated in the resolution on Turkey approved yesterday by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament, led the Confederal Group of the European United Left-Nordic Green Left to abstain in the vote. The final version of the text following yesterday’s vote, which is expected to be discussed and voted on in the April plenary session, will determine our final stand. Our permanent objective remains the evaluation of such resolutions in their correct dimension, focusing our attention both on issues of direct interest to Cyprus, as well as on Turkey’s obligations in general as a candidate country for accession.
Unquestionably, and this is also reflected in the resolution of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Turkey is going through a period of a general regression on issues regarding fundamental rights and the rule of law. There are many examples, the most recent being the case of the “Zaman” newspaper. The censorship, violations of the rights of minorities, the persecution of academics and journalists underlined in the text, are regrettably clashing with the call for the opening of chapters 23 and 24, which the Rapporteur insists on including in the resolution also this year. Likewise, neither does Turkey’s persistent refusal to fulfill its obligations related to Cyprus, which incidentally represent commitments towards the European Union as a whole, comply with this call, including the full and non-discriminatory implementation of the Additional Protocol.
At the same time, we point out the importance of the inclusion as a result of our initiative of a comprehensive wording as to the form of the solution of the Cyprus problem, of a reference for the condemnation of the colonization and a call addressed to Turkey to open its archives that will assist the efforts to verify the fate of the missing persons.
In addition, Turkey is also called upon to actively support the negotiating procedure and a positive outcome to it. As a result of our amendments that were adopted, we managed to further strengthen the text that already referred to the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 550 on Famagusta and to the end of Turkey’s military presence in Cyprus. More specifically, the evolvement of the Republic of Cyprus into a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation with a single sovereignty, a single international personality and a single citizenship in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions and International Law is for the first time supported in a text of the European Parliament.
As we have already stated, in identifying the positive, but also the negative aspects of the resolution, we will try in view of the plenary session of the European Parliament to achieve additional improvements. The main axis of our approach remains that the EU must put Turkey before its responsibilities, since it is Turkey’s intransigent stand and its political choices that constitute a hindrance to its accession course.
