Greek Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Evangelos Venizelos said Monday that “ there is momentum on the Cyprus issue if there is momentum in Turkey”, presenting the priorities of the Greek Presidency of the Council of the EU before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament.
Referring to Cyprus, Venizelos wondered: “Is there momentum in Cyprus?” giving at the same time the answer that” yes there is, if there is momentum in Turkey. ”
Saying that the crucial factor to solve the Cyprus problem is Turkey, he added that this is obvious it the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights, which considers that Turkey controls the occupied northern part of Cyprus, adding that the individual appeals at the ECHR are against Turkey.
Venizelos said that Turkey`s position is completely different from the Greek position or the position of any other state.
According to Venizelos, the dialogue today is between the two communities, but it is based on certain principles.
“Mr. Davutoglu and I agreed that Athens should accept the negotiator of the Turkish Cypriot community which is an institutional entity in the Cyprus Constitution of 1960 and Ankara to accept the negotiator of the Greek Cypriot community, but this will be done after the joint statement is agreed between the leaders of the two communities and after the beginning of meaningful negotiations”, he said.
The conditions are evident, he said, and have to do with the respect of the decisions of the Security Council, the European acquis and the three principles governing each federal state: a single legal personality, a single sovereignty, a single citizenship, adding that these need to be accepted in a referendum.
Efforts are currently underway with a view to achieve an agreement between the two communities on a joint communiqué that will pave the way for the resumption of UN-led negotiations on the problem of Cyprus, divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of the island’s territory.
