Both positive and negative elements in EP Turkey resolution. Our goal remains highlighting Turkey’s responsibilities
Statement of Georgos Loucaides, AKEL C.C. Spokesperson
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 15th April 2016, Nicosia
The resolution on Turkey approved yesterday by the plenary of the European Parliament didn’t include any particular surprises. Admittedly, this is a resolution with evident positive and negative elements which led AKEL and GUE/NGL as a whole to abstain in the vote. AKEL’s main goal in the European Parliament remains the highlighting at a European level of Turkey’s responsibility for perpetuating the occupation in Cyprus.
The resolution clearly records that the situation in Turkey, with responsibilities on the country’s government, anything but serves progress and modernization. These are elements that constitute fundamental preconditions in its accession process based on the Copenhagen criteria and the Negotiating Framework as a whole. Unfortunately, despite these objective conclusions about Turkey’s alarmingly negative record on human rights and labour relations issues, the European Parliament insists on the opening of chapters. Indeed, under the regime of the unacceptable pressures that were exerted by the Commissioner for Enlargement, our amendments were rejected; amendments which tied the opening of chapters rightly that the Republic of Cyprus has correctly frozen with the fulfillment of Anakara’s obligations related to Cyprus.
At the same time, we have expressed our opposition to the content of the last EU-Turkey Agreement, which is contrary to international conventions on refugees who the EU is seeking to “restrict” outside the borders of its Member States, in a country that is systematically violating fundamental human rights.
Apart from our strong objection to all that I have previously mentioned, we underline as a very positive development the adoption in the final text as well of all the basic parameters of the form of the solution we are seeking, as we had set them out when the resolution was under examination in the EP Foreign Affairs Committee. That is to say, parameters providing for a solution that will lead to the transformation of the Republic of Cyprus into a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation with a single sovereignty, a single international personality and a single citizenship, based on International Law and the relevant UN resolutions. The condemnation of the colonization, the call for Turkey to open its files to assist in ascertaining the fate of the missing persons, to implement UN resolution 550 on Famagusta, to withdraw its military presence in Cyprus and to actively support the negotiation process form a positive picture with regards the issues relating to the Cyprus problem the report deals with.
