Nicosia hails conclusions of Council about Turkey

Nicosia hails conclusions of Council about Turkey

Article | December 11, 2011 – 2:00pm

Cyprus’ government is satisfied with the content of the conclusions of the General Affairs Council that concern Turkey, said Government Spokesman Stefanos Stefanou, while commenting on the text of the Conclusions of the General Affairs Council of the European Union, at the Presidential Palace on 7 December.

In the conclusions, Turkey is urged to avoid any kind of threat or action directed against a member state and is called upon to commit itself to good neighbourly relations. It is evident that the EU indicates to Turkey to terminate the threats it launches against Cyprus in connection with the explorations that our country is conducting for hydrocarbons in the Cyprus EEZ. In the conclusions there is an extensive reference to Turkey’s Cyprus-related obligations as these are outlined in the Conclusions of December 2006 and in the Declaration of September 2005, which unfortunately Turkey has not fulfilled, so far, thus causing the EU’s deep dissatisfaction.

The Council underlines the need for full and non-discriminatory implementation of the Additional Protocol towards all member states. In the conclusions, an important reference is made on the fact that the non-discriminatory implementation would provide a significant boost to Turkey’s negotiation process.

In the absence of progress, the Council has decided to maintain its measures from 2006 which, as it is known, led to the freezing of eight accession chapters for Turkey. According to the conclusions, the Council expects Turkey to actively support the ongoing negotiations aimed at a fair, comprehensive and viable settlement of the Cyprus problem within the UN framework, in accordance with the relevant resolutions, and in line with the principles on which the Union is founded.

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