The Cyprus problem was discussed during a meeting EU High Representative/ Vice-President Catherine Ashton and Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Štefan Füle had on Monday in Brussels with the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmet Davutoğlu and Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu for political dialogue.
According to a European Commission press release, Fule said that “we also agreed how important a comprehensive settlement to the Cyprus issue is for all our interests. I expressed how much we appreciate Turkey`s support in the recent weeks to help re-launch talks between the two sides, which we hope will begin again very soon now.”
Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu will meet on Tuesday morning, in the United Nations Protected Area (UNPA) of Nicosia after having agreed last weekend on a draft joint declaration.
The Republic of Cyprus, an EU member state since May 2004, was divided in 1974 when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Turkey still occupies 37% of Cyprus` territory despite repeated calls by the UN, the EU and other international fora to withdraw its troops. The latest UN-led round of talks was suspended by the Turkish Cypriot side in July 2012, when Cyprus assumed the presidency of the Council of the European Union.
In the past few months, the negotiators of the two sides have been meeting in an effort to agree on a joint statement. The breakthrough was achieved during the weekend.
Referring to Turkey`s EU accession negotiatons, Fule said “progress was indeed achieved last year in Turkey. The 4th judicial reform package and the democratisation package were adopted. The regional policy chapter was opened; talks on visa liberalisation started and the readmission agreement was signed. All this gave fresh momentum to our cooperation and proved a strong desire of both sides to advance further”.
Today, he noted, “we discussed the recent developments in Turkey. We have underlined the need for Turkey as a candidate country in accession negotiations to engage in early consultations with the Commission on all laws related to both the accession process and the political criteria.”
“We discussed this in particular in the light of the recent exchanges on the importance of an independent judiciary and the internet law adopted by the parliament last week. It is the Commission`s duty to monitor the developments and express concerns when these are justified and to also offer help and support to ensure compatibility with the acquis and EU best practice,” he said.
