EU Turkish Cypriot money not to go on Greek Cypriot land

None of the EUR 139 mln financial aid for Turkish Cypriots will be spent on Greek Cypriot land, the government spokesman George Lillikas has said.

After a long delay and disagreements among EU members about whether the financial aid regulation for Turkish Cypriots should be tied to the regulation on trade which Greek Cypriots oppose, the financial aid regulation was passed in February.

Lillikas said that the financial regulation defines how the money will be made available.

“The regulation’s provisions for both the control and procedures to channel the economic assistance will be implemented, as well as the preconditions set, meaning that no euro will be spent on Greek Cypriot property,” he said.

Financial Mirror sources suggest that the financial aid will be handled directly from Brussels.

Lillikas was quick to dismiss any suggestion that it would be handled via an office in northern Cyprus.

Commenting on reports that the head of the European Parliament – Turkey Contact Group conveyed a demand by the Turkish Cypriots to the European Parliament for the EU to establish an office in the occupied areas that will handle the 139 million euros, Lillikas said the EU already has an office in the Republic of Cyprus in Nicosia and that according to the Accession Treaty of the Republic of Cyprus, the implementation of the acquis communautaire is suspended in the north.