Turkey’s apporval of customs protocol “a first positive step”

President Tassos Papadopoulos said Tuesday that Turkey’s intention to send the issue of approval of the protocol extending its customs union to the ten new EU member states to the Turkish Grand National Assembly “will be the first positive step for the fulfillment of the obligations Turkey has towards the EU.”

As regards a story published by the Athens newspaper “Eleftherotypia” saying that the Greek government is working on proposals so as to push forward efforts for a Cyprus settlement and give an answer to European and US pressure to lift the so called “isolation” of the Turkish Cypriot community, Papadopoulos said that when this was published his representative was in Athens “in the framework of this weekly planning we are making with Greece.”

And this is the third visit to plan the strategy and policy, he added.

He said he was astonished to hear about such a Greek plan.

Replying to another question he noted that his proposal for the return of Famagusta to the Greek Cypriots and the opening of the port is still on the table since the two EU regulations of the (financial aid for Turkish Cypriots and direct trade with Turkish Cypriots) were submitted.

“We have proposed in detail and in writing this plan a long while ago, so these aspects that we are discussing are not new,” he added.