WRITTEN QUESTION E-1590/01

by Frank Vanhecke (TDI) to the Council

(1 June 2001)

Subject: The Cyprus issue

During his visit to Brussels in late April 2001, Ergün Olgun, the representative of the Turkish Cypriot President, Rauf Denktash, warned in unmistakable terms that the latent Turkish-Greek conflict on the island of Cyprus would escalate if the European Union acted upon the agreement reached by EU Heads of State or Government in December 2000 in Helsinki and did not regard the division of the island as constituting an obstacle to the island's accession to the European Union (see the 3 May 2001 edition of European Voice).

Ergün Olgun, the spokesman for the Turkish-Cypriot Government, spoke of incalculable consequences if accession negotiations with Cyprus were continued without any official negotiations with the Turkish-Cypriot Government.

1. Has the Council reacted to these manifest threats from the Turkish-Cypriots?

2. What is the Council's view of the UN proposals for the creation of a federal state on Cyprus, a proposal rejected by the Turkish-Cypriot Government?

3. What steps will the Council take over the next six months in order to promote the reunification of the divided island?

4. Does not the Council deem it desirable for any form of accession negotiations with Turkey to be suspended until that country ends its illegal occupation of Cyprus?

Reply

(27 November 2001)

Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots can have no doubt about the EU position with regard to the Cyprus issue. It would be inappropriate for the Council to react every time a Turkish Cypriot expresses his views on the matter. The Council would give a general reminder of the positions adopted by the European Council on the Cyprus issue, in particular at its meetings in Helsinki (see paragraphs 9(a) and (b) of the Presidency conclusions) and Nice (see paragraph 56 of the Presidency conclusions). The need for a resolution of the Cyprus problem on the basis of the efforts of the UN Secretary-General and the desirability also in Turkey's own interest of accession to the EU of a united Cyprus have been made clear to them on many other occasions.

The UN Secretary General submitted his oral remarks last November as a basis for further discussion by the parties. The EU strongly supports the UN Secretary's current efforts to find an overall agreement on the Cyprus issue but it has not commented on the substance of the oral remarks.

The EU will continue to press Turkey to encourage the Turkish Cypriots to reengage with the UN Secretary-General and to support him to bring the process initiated in December 1999 to a successful conclusion. The political dialogue on the occasion of the most recent meeting of the EU Turkey Association Council on 26 June 2001 provided another opportunity for the EU to put its views across.

Accession negotiations with Turkey can only start after Turkey has fulfilled the Copenhagen political criteria as specified in the Accession Partnership for Turkey of 8 March 2001. On Cyprus the Accession Partnership lists under Enhanced political dialogue and political criteria as a short-term (2001) priority for Turkey: In accordance with the Helsinki conclusions, in the context of the political dialogue, strongly support the UN Secretary-General's efforts to bring to a successful conclusion the process of finding a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem, as referred to in paragraph 9(a) of the Helsinki conclusions.

The Accession Partnership for Turkey made it clear that further steps towards satisfying the Copenhagen criteria and in particular progress in meeting the specific priorities of this Accession Partnership in 2001 need to be taken. In this context, the Göteborg European Council stated that the Accession Partnership is the cornerstone of the pre-accession strategy for Turkey.