Cypriot President accuses Turkey of maintaining confrontation policy towards EU

Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos on Monday accused Turkey of maintaining a policy of confrontation by refusing to meet its obligations undertaken towards the European Union (EU), including Cyprus.

Speaking at a state banquet in honor of visiting Irish President Mary McAleese, Papadopoulos said that Cyprus extended its support to Turkey's EU accession course in a genuine hope that it would provide an incentive for Turkey to cooperate in a Cyprus settlement based on EU values and principles.

But regrettably, Turkey has maintained a policy of confrontation by refusing to meet its obligations undertaken towards the EU, including Cyprus, he said.

The EU formally launched talks with Turkey over the country's accession last October and the Republic of Cyprus has since urged Ankara to open Turkey's ports and airports to its traffic under a customs union protocol Ankara signed with the EU.

Turkey insists that it will not do so unless EU's restriction on the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north is lifted, vowing not to budge even if its position led to the suspension of its EU entry talks.

The Republic of Cyprus, which entered the EU on behalf of the whole island in May 2004, is able to block Turkey's entry talks with its veto.

Referring to the Cyprus issue, Papadopoulos reassured that he remains committed to a solution of the Cyprus problem on the basis of a functional bizonal, bi-communal federation, which would guarantee that Cyprus is able to meet its obligations towards the EU, and focuses solely on the interests of the Cypriot people.

"Unfortunately, the Turkish side still promotes its ultimate objective of setting up two separate states," he added.

"The process of bi-communal discussions at a technical level to address substantive aspects of the Cyprus problem, as well as issues that impact on the day-to-day lives of Cypriots, is the way forward to laying the necessary groundwork for meaningful negotiations," he said, and assured he remains "committed to seeing the agreement reached on July 8 implemented in its entirety. "

Papadopoulos and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat agreed on July 8 during a meeting in the presence of UN Undersecretary General for political affairs Ibrahim Gambari, to begin a process of bicommunal discussions on issues that affect the day-to-day life of the people and concurrently those that concern substantive issues, both contributing to a comprehensive settlement to the Cyprus problem.

Cyprus has been divided along the ethnic line since 1974 when Turkey militarily intervened and occupied the north of Cyprus following a coup by a group of Greek officers.

The Greek Cypriot-dominated government is internationally recognized while the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is recognized only by Turkey.

The reunification talks have been stalled since a UN-sponsored reunification plan was rejected by Greek Cypriots in separate referendum on both sides of the divided island in April 2004.

Source: Xinhua