Ankara, Turkey. Turkey’s ruling AK Party spokesman Omer Celik said discussions on the Cyprus problem must take place through diplomacy and on the basis of United Nations parameters, commenting on European Commission envoy Raffaele Fitto’s visit to the island.
He said the European Union was dealing with a matter which, in his view, did not concern it.
EU role
Celik said that the Turkish Cypriot side had accepted, while the Greek Cypriot side had rejected, the proposal put to referendum following the 2004 Burgenstock summit.
He also said the EU had admitted the Greek Cypriot side despite the principle that a country should not join the bloc without resolving its border issues.
The Burgenstock summit was the final round of negotiations before the 2004 referendum on the Annan plan, a UN-brokered reunification model named after late UN secretary-general Kofi Annan. The plan was accepted by the Turkish Cypriot electorate and rejected by the Greek Cypriot electorate.
Celik argued that allowing the Republic of Cyprus to join the EU before reunification had created the basis for current problems and meant the bloc had lost its neutrality.
“There is nothing more it can solve by appointing a special representative,” he said, adding that the matter would continue to be discussed through diplomacy and under UN parameters.
UN meeting preparations
Celik’s comments followed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ confirmation during a visit to Cyprus that Turkey, Greece and the United Kingdom, the three guarantor powers, had reached a consensus on holding a new enlarged meeting on the Cyprus problem.
Guterres said the meeting would be convened after adequate progress was made on confidence-building measures, its methodology and the substance of the talks. He said he counted on the continued support of the three guarantor powers.
Before travelling to Cyprus, Guterres held a telephone conversation with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Sunday. Fidan met UN Cyprus problem envoy Maria Angela Holguin last week.
Last month, Fidan, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos and Internal Affairs Commissioner Magnus Brunner signed a joint declaration supporting Guterres’ efforts on Cyprus.
