VENIZELOS: Athens calls on Ankara to recognise the Republic of Cyprus

Greek Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Evangelos Venizelos has called on Turkey to recognise that the Republic of Cyprus not only exists but is also an EU and a UN member.

Commenting on statements by Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, whose country does not recognise Cyprus, Venizelos said “Turkey does not understand a very simple fact: that the Republic of Cyprus exists, is a member state of the UN, a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone, has an international legal personality, national sovereignty and national sovereign rights.”

Speaking to journalists on Wednesday night in Athens, he said Davutoglu refers to an illegal agreement Ankara has signed with the self-styled Turkish Cypriot regime in Turkish occupied Cyprus to justify Turkish moves in Cyprus` exclusive economic zone.

“Turkey does not cite its own rights or its own claims. It accepts that the continental shelf and the EEZ do not belong to Ankara but it believes that the Turkish Cypriot regime has certain rights on them, something which cannot be accepted,” he said.

This kind of attitude unfortunately does not help either the UN-led peace talks or Turkey`s own accession course to the EU, he pointed out.

He said the international community has asked Turkey to halt its illegal activity in Cyprus` EEZ.

Turkish seismic exploration vessel `Barbaros`entered Cyprus`Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) on Monday. The move comes a few days after Turkey issued a maritime order, or NAVTEX, for the area. This prompted President Nicos Anastasiades to suspend his participation in the UN backed negotiations which aim to reunify the island under a federal roof.