Vural condemns ‘one-sided’ Cyprus report by MEPs

Date: 28/06/01

By David Cronin

MEPs criticising Turkey's involvement in Cyprus have been denounced for alleged political bias by Ankara's chief negotiator on EU membership.

Visiting Brussels last week, Volkan Vural said he was "appalled and shocked" by the "one-sided" nature of a new parliamentary report on Cyprus.

The paper - drafted by Luxembourg Socialist and former Foreign Minister Jacques Poos - contends that if Turkey carries out its threat of reacting to Cyprus' Union accession by annexing the northern part of the island, this would be a "flagrant violation of international law". It would also call a halt to Ankara's bid for membership of the bloc.

Vural, who stressed he was making the comments in a personal capacity as Turkey-Cyprus relations fall outside his brief, added: "Any effort to take Cyprus into the EU without a political solution is an invitation for disaster, for the permanent division of the island. We should not create new Bosnias or new Kosovos."

The Poos report says that a "paradoxical situation" arises with Cyprus, "where part of a candidate country [for EU membership] is occupied by another candidate country [Turkey]." It lambasts the Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash for withdrawing from the UN-sponsored 'proximity' talks aimed at reaching a settlement on the island's future, due to take place last January.

According to Vural, many in the EU believe that the Cyprus issue began in 1974 with the Turkish invasion, but constitutional guarantees for the Greek and Turkish communities on the island had been given 14 years previously. "We are a guarantor state and have an internationally recognised right to be in Cyprus. If Greek Cypriots think they can achieve something through the EU mechanism that they have not been able to achieve in the past, then they are making a big mistake." On domestic issues in Turkey, Vural was defensive about the European Commission's demands for major improvements in the treatment of the Kurdish community. He said the extent of the problem was "somewhat exaggerated both in Turkey and outside". But he admitted this was partly because of the legal restrictions on the expression of Kurdish identity.

Expressing hope that Ankara should start full accession talks with Brussels by the end of 2003 at the latest, he said that EU states need not be concerned about a resulting influx of migrant workers.

Despite recent economic crises, Vural believes that structural reforms currently being introduced by the Turkish government should lead to a growth rate of 6-7% in the coming years, leaving most Turks able to find work at home. "No one should worry that jobless Turks will invade Europe if we become a member," he added.

MEPs criticising Turkey's involvement in Cyprus have been denounced for alleged political bias by Ankara's chief negotiator on EU membership.