AKEL replies to DIKO
Statement by AKEL C.C. Spokesperson Giorgos Koukoumas
25 November 2022, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia
Either DIKO is completely unaware of how the European Parliament functions, or it is now copying the cheap slanderous tactics of the ruling DISY party against AKEL and AKEL MEP Niyazi Kizilyurek.
The position of AKEL and its MEP’s against the unacceptable and illegal Turkish-Libyan Memorandum has been expressed dozens of times in positions and votes in the European Parliament (most recently by voting in favour of a relevant amendment in the Turkey Progress Report, June 2022), with statements by the Left Group and with the question submitted to the European Commission as early as December 2019 by AKEL MEP’s Niyazi Kizilyurek and Giorgos Georgiou, together with 25 other MEP’s from various countries and Political Groups. As reiterated there “This agreement violates the international law of the sea, the principle of good neighbourly relations and the sovereignty of neighbouring coastal states over maritime zones. In particular, it clearly and unquestionably disregards the legitimate rights of EU member states such as Greece and Cyprus.”
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-9-2019-004587_EL.html
The Resolution adopted the day before yesterday in the European Parliament was about the situation in Libya as a whole and contained a number of references with which we as a Left Group disagree (migration, EU military missions, no mention of NATO’s responsibilities, of the EU’s responsibilities regarding the export of arms to Libya, etc.). This was the reason why almost the entire Left Group voted against it in the European Parliament, even though we obviously agree with paragraph 1g, which calls for the cancellation of the Libyan memorandum.
In the same way, the European Parliament Resolutions on Turkey are not voted for by Cypriot MEP’s, although they contain positive references to specific issues. I wonder if the DIKO MEP who voted against the report on Turkey in June does not want the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Cyprus as included in the relevant Resolution? One wonders -does he not denounce the Turkish-Libya memorandum as contained in the Resolution he voted against?
After the decision of the DIKO leadership to stop calling for a change of government and its decision to support the DISY candidate Nikos
Christodoulides, the downhill slide is gathering pace. From the Grivas Museum and the backtracking on foreclosures, it has now reached the point of fabricating news to slander AKEL.
We hope the downhill slide will soon come to an end.
