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Turkey must not link the channeling of natural gas with political issues, Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg has said, responding to a question by Cypriot member of the European Parliament Kyriakos Triantaphyllides during a meeting of the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee.
A press release issued by Triantaphyllides bureau said that the Cypriot MEP asked to be informed by the Czech FM on how the EU Czech Presidency will confront the threats launched by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to deprive the EU of the planned Nabucco pipeline and the channeling of natural gas, if the Union does not exert pressure on the Republic of Cyprus to give its consent for the opening of the chapter on energy, in the framework of Turkey’s EU accession negotiations.
The press release said that the Czech FM stressed that Turkey must not link the piping of natural gas with political issues. He added that even though the EU Czech Presidency supports Turkey’s full accession to the EU, its route towards accession will be blocked if there is no settlement of the Cyprus question.
The Cypriot MEP also asked what the Czech Presidency will do with regard to the existing cooperation agreement between the EU and Israel as well as with the process of promoting EU relations with Israel, in view of the ongoing violations of international law and the flagrant breach of humanitarian law after the recent military operations in Gaza.
Schwarzenberg said the EU must have good relations with the Israeli state to do its utmost for the Palestinian people and that it is in the interest of the Union to have the best possible relations both with Israel and the Arab countries.
Erdogan has warned that Turkey will review its support for the 12 billion dollar Nabucco pipeline project, if the energy portion of its EU accession talks remains blocked.
Turkey, which does not recognise the Republic of Cyprus, an EU member state since 1st May 2004, has so far failed to implement the additional Protocol of the Ankara Agreement, which provides for the opening of its ports and airports to Cyprus.
