70.

Strongly condemns the partial illegal reopening of Varosha in the city of Famagusta, which undermines mutual trust and therefore the prospect of the resumption of direct talks on the comprehensive resolution of the Cyprus issue, by changing the situation on the ground for the worse, exacerbating division and embedding the permanent partition of Cyprus; warns against any change of the status quo in Varosha in violation of the UNSC resolutions; calls on Turkey to reverse this action and avoid any other unilateral action that could raise further tensions on the island, in compliance with the recent call of the UNSC; calls on Turkey to withdraw its troops from Cyprus, to transfer the Varosha area to its lawful inhabitants under the temporary administration of the UN in accordance with UNSC Resolution 550 (1984) and to refrain from actions altering the demographic balance on the island through a policy of illegal settlements; reiterates its call on Turkey to commit and contribute to a comprehensive settlement in line with the relevant UNSC resolutions, including on the restitution of property and the preservation of religious sites; regrets that the highest Turkish authorities have endorsed the two-state solution for political and nationalistic purposes and urges the Government of Turkey to commit concretely to the UN Secretary-General’s call for renewed negotiations; urges the parties concerned to relaunch negotiations on the reunification of Cyprus under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General as soon as possible, from where they were left off and building on the agreements already reached as part of the 2017 Crans-Montana process; calls for the EU and its Member States to play a more active role in bringing negotiations to a successful conclusion; reiterates its support for a fair, comprehensive and viable settlement on the basis of a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation with a single international legal personality, single sovereignty and single citizenship and with political equality between the two communities, as defined in the relevant UNSC resolutions, in accordance with international law and the EU acquis and on the basis of respect for the principles on which the Union is founded; is firmly convinced that a sustainable conflict resolution can only be found through dialogue, diplomacy and negotiations in a spirit of good will and in line with international law; firmly believes that the sustainable resolution of the Cyprus problem would benefit every country in the region; stresses the need for the EU acquis to be implemented across the entire island following the solution of the Cyprus problem and the importance of engaging with the democratic forces of the Turkish Cypriot community; praises the important work of the bi-communal Committee on Missing Persons, which deals with both Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot missing persons, and reiterates its appreciation for the fact that improved access to relevant sites, including military areas, has been granted for some years already; calls on Turkey to assist the Committee on Missing Persons by providing information from its military archives; regrets Turkey’s continuing refusal to comply with aviation law and establish a channel of communication between air traffic control centres in Turkey and the Republic of Cyprus, the absence of which entails real safety risks and dangers as identified by the European Aviation Safety Agency and the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations; takes the view that this could be an area where Turkey could prove its commitment to confidence-building measures and calls on Turkey to collaborate by fully implementing EU aviation law; recalls its position, as expressed in previous resolutions, on the introduction of an initiative in the Council for all EU Member States to halt the licencing of arms exports to Turkey in accordance with Council Common Position 2008/944/CFSP;