Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman has told European Commission Executive Vice-President Raffaele Fitto that the European Union cannot participate as a party in any future Cyprus negotiations. He nevertheless argued that Brussels could contribute through confidence-building measures and renewed calls for the proposed Direct Trade Regulation to move forward without further delay.
The two met at the Turkish Cypriot leader’s office in occupied Nicosia. In a subsequent post, Erhürman described their meeting as a “useful discussion” and raised concerns over recent positions and decisions adopted by EU institutions, particularly the European Parliament.
He described some of these positions as “unilateral and biased”, claiming that they had further weakened trust in the EU among Turkish Cypriots.
Confidence-building measures with the EU
Erhürman said he repeated a position that the Turkish Cypriot side has conveyed for some time to EU and member-state officials.
According to his post, Turkish Cypriots need confidence-building measures not only with the Greek Cypriot leadership, but also with the European Union itself.
He maintained that the EU could not take part as a party at a future negotiating table for reasons that were “known to everyone”. However, he said the bloc could play a positive role in EU-related confidence-building measures if it wished to contribute to a “fair and lasting solution” on the island.
Direct trade and the Green Line Regulation
Erhürman said the meeting also covered the proposed Direct Trade Regulation, which he called on the EU to advance without further delay.
The two also discussed problems that the Turkish Cypriot side says affect the implementation of the Green Line Regulation, as well as issues concerning the EU citizenship of Turkish Cypriots and property-related matters.
Erhürman told Fitto that the time had long passed for the “isolation” of Turkish Cypriots to end.
He argued that the community had repeatedly demonstrated its willingness to reach a settlement and called for the immediate removal of obstacles which, he said, prevent Turkish Cypriots, particularly younger generations, from becoming part of the international community.
