BRUSSELS
The EU Commission should not impose "unjustified requests" on Turkey regarding the Cyprus issue in the upcoming progress report, Turkish Cypriot Foreign Minister Ozdil Nami said.
Nami spoke to the Anadolu Agency, AA, after his meeting with European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule late Thursday in Brussels. He told the AA that Turkey was not evaluated justly and fairly in the previous EU progress reports on Turkey’s efforts to meet EU standards.
"For example, Turkey is asked to normalize its relations with an illegally found Southern Cypriot Republic. The essence of the problem is this already," Nami added. "These kinds of demands are equal to pretending that there is no problem at all."
The island of Cyprus has remained divided into Greek and Turkish sides since a Greek Cypriot coup was followed by a Turkish peace mission to aid Turkish Cypriots in the north in 1974.
Negotiations over Cyprus resumed after a 2004 deal put forward by the former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to reunify the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot communities.
The plan was defeated by a no vote in a referendum on the Greek side of the island, whereas Turkish Cypriots voted in favor.
A fresh round of negotiations to solve the Cyprus issue will be held between Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders and inter-delegation negotiations will continue throughout the week.
www.aa.com.tr/en
