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ANKARA: Gul: Do you Hear our Call regarding Cyprus?

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  • ANKARA: Gul: Do you Hear our Call regarding Cyprus?

    Zaman, Turkey
    April 27 2005

    Gul: Do you Hear our Call regarding Cyprus?

    Within the framework of the 44th session of the Partnership Council,
    the toplevel decision body between Turkey and the European Union
    (EU), Turkey conveyed all its grievences to Brussels yesterday.

    Turkey replied to the 26-page EU common policy draft of expectations
    from Turkey with an 18-page report. Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah
    Gul expressed reproaches to the Union regarding the issues such as
    the solution call made only to the Turkish side in regard to the
    Cyprus issue, unilateral accusation of Turkey regarding the North
    Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)-EU cooperation, calls on the
    supplementary-protocol, and permanent restrictions. Despite the
    attempts of the French, the so-called Armenian "genocide" allegations
    were not brought to the agenda of the meeting held at the EU term
    president Luxembourg.

    Following the Council meeting, Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean
    Asselborn, Gul and the EU Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn
    confirmed the start of membership negotiations between the Union and
    Turkey on October 3 as planned; however, it was pointed out that
    problems regarding Cyprus still exist. Gul asked his counterparts and
    other EU officials during the meeting: "Don't you hear our calls
    regarding Cyprus? Don't Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's and my
    calls reach you? Are there any problems? Some demands made by you
    hurt us. We ask you not to do that again, please."

    Expressing his grievances to his addressees as "You enclosed the
    problem despite Turkey's objections," Gul said: "I told them 'ask the
    Greek Cypriots whether they came here to create problems. Greek
    Cypriots' among you does not give you the right to do the wrong
    thing. Ask them about these things by thinking about the greater EU
    interests.'" Emphasizing that fait accompli cannot be allowed for
    only one side that had entered the EU, Gul added: "The EU tried hard
    to achieve a solution; however, its efforts were obstructed on the
    island." On the other hand, Asselborn only noted that Brussels should
    do whatever was possible to get approval for the two EU laws that
    would remove the isolation over the Turkish Republic of Northern
    Cyprus (TRNC).

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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