Opposition Democratic Rally (DISY) leader Nicos Anastasiades, expressed his satisfaction on Sunday over the results of the European People’s Party (EPP) Congress in Rome earlier this week and the resolution on Cyprus that was unanimously approved.
The European People’s Party, of which DISY is a member, is the largest grouping in the European Parliament and tends to be sceptical about Turkey’s EU membership.
Speaking at a press conference, Anastasiades who headed a delegation at the EPP, said that on the sidelines of the congress he had held a series of contacts with heads of state and government leaders as well as political party leaders.
Anastasiades said he would send a letter to President of the Republic Tassos Papadopoulos to inform him about his contacts and especially the resolution adopted on Cyprus. Letters will be sent by DISY to all the political parties on the island.
Anastasiades said that with the resolution, the EPP calls on Turkey to recognise the Republic of Cyprus and to withdraw its troops from the island soon and according to the UN Resolutions.
“I think,” Anastasiades said, “that we have a powerful stand with nine points and a Congress resolution coming from the biggest political power in Europe”, noting that the resolution “covers the essence of the Cyprus problem and Turkey’s clear obligations”.
“We can build on that a new momentum to achieve a comprehensive solution to a problem which concerns our European partners today,” Anastasiades stated.
According to the resolution, the European People’s Party “calls on the Turkish authorities to effect an early withdrawal, pursuant to the relevant UN resolutions, of its forces in accordance with a specific timetable; believes that such a withdrawal of Turkish forces is a necessary step forward on the way to further easing tension and preparing for a lasting solution.”
It also “calls on the Turkish authorities to fully ratify and implement the protocol extending its custom union with all 25 EU members” and “to recognize the Republic of Cyprus.”
The EPP draws the attention of the Turkish authorities “to the fact that the negotiations concerned are intergovernmental negotiations between Turkey on the one hand and the 25 members of the EU on the other; the Republic of Cyprus is one of those Member States.”
With the Resolution, the EPP “affirms its support to the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and unity of the Republic of Cyprus, whilst respecting the democratic will of the Greek Cypriot community, regrets that a solution has not been yet reached and it calls on the Secretary General of the UN to resume his initiative for reaching a solution acceptable by all communities in Cyprus”.
