AKEL’s assessment of the European Parliament’s resolution on Turkey’s accession course

Statement by Stefanos Stefanou, AKEL C.C. Spokesperson

AKEL C.C. Press Office, 21^st June 2017, Nicosia

AKEL with actions and not words is proving daily its seriousness and consistent commitment to the goal of a solution

At a particularly important conjuncture regarding developments on the Cyprus problem, but also for Turkey itself, the European Parliament has proceeded to formulate its annual resolution on Turkey’s accession course. More specifically, yesterday, the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs took a position on the report of rapporteur Kati Piri which is scheduled to be voted on during the next plenary session on 3rd July.

Both AKEL and the Confederal Group of the European United Left-Nordic Green Left have (GUE/NGL) had worked aiming at the conclusion of a final text that would record and assess objectively developments in Turkey and all that affects the Cyprus problem. In particular, the main goal of the amendments AKEL tabled, the majority of which were accepted by the rapporteur and the relevant committee as a whole, were as follows:

1. We do not reject the perspective of Turkey’s accession to the European Union, but we argued that the positive outcome of its accession negotiations presupposes the full implementation of the Copenhagen political criteria.

2. Ankara’s accession course is inextricably linked to the fulfillment of the contractual obligations it has already undertaken towards the European Union as a whole, including towards the Republic of Cyprus. Consequently, the upgrading of the EU-Turkey Customs Union Agreement cannot proceed without taking into account the non-implementation of the existing framework vis-à-vis the Republic of Cyprus.

3. The visa liberalization is problematic and has a negative impact on pre-existing convergence for a restriction of the future flow of Turkish citizens to Cyprus in line with a 4: 1 population ratio.

4. The necessity for Turkey to sign and ratify the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, but also to respect our sovereign rights in the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Republic of Cyprus.

5. The basic parameters for the solution of the Cyprus problem which include the withdrawal of occupation troops, the termination of the illegal colonialization (of the occupied territories), the implementation of Resolution 550 approved by the UN Security Council on Famagusta and the verification of the fate of all the missing persons.

6. The framework of the solution, which is the transformation of the Republic of Cyprus from a unitary state into a bicommunal, bizonal federation with political equality, as defined in the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council, with a single sovereignty, a single international personality and a single citizenship.

We note with satisfaction that the references regarding the solution of the Cyprus problem have been incorporated into the text in its present form. At the same time, however, among other things, the reference to the upgrading of the Customs Union Agreement, the positive signal that is attributed to the visa liberalization, the support expressed to the EU-Turkey Agreement on the refugee issue, which the GUE/NGL Group does not consider as positive, led us to abstain in the vote. We will, of course, table amendments in the Plenary so that all the aforementioned sought improvements that have not already been achieved are made to the text.

Finally, and in the context of the debate currently underway, which is attempting to erroneously deceive society into the search for “lesser” and “genuine” patriots, we want to underline that AKEL through its actions and not by words – for example through the amendments we have tabled and have succeeded in including in the European Parliament’s resolution – is proving on a day-to-day basis its seriousness and consistent commitment to the goal of a solution based on principles.