Call for the EU
HE. Jose Socrates,
Current President of the EU,
HE. Hans-Gert Pottering,
President of the EU Parliament,
HE. Jose Mauel Barroso,
President of the EU Commission.
20 September 2007
Nicosia
Your Excellency,
Cyprus EU Association is a group of Turkish Cypriots established as a think-tank, which has been lobbying for an early unification of Cyprus, based on bi-zonal, bi-communal federation. Our concerns are focused on the existence of the Turkish Cypriot community.
From the 1990s, with Cyprus’ application for EU membership, the EU became a key external determinant of the conflict in Cyprus. Because of Cyprus’ accession process and Turkey’s inclination to join the Union, the parties to the conflict have been going through a change of “Europeanization”.
Parallel to the Customs Union between Turkey and the EU, Cyprus moved closer to the accession, reaching to a threshold with the December 1999 Helsinki European Council Conclusions, where; “If no settlement has been reached by the completion of accession negotiations of Cyprus, the Council's decision on accession will be made without the political settlement being a precondition.”
And it happened; without the facilitation of a political settlement, Cyprus is a member state. After the results of the two simultaneous referenda in Cyprus on the United Nation’s plan back in 2004, the Commissioner of Enlargement Mr. Verhaugen then burst out saying “I have been misled”.
Indeed, it is a wriggling fact that the EU and we, the Cypriots struggling for an early settlement, have been misled. Turkish Cypriots amazingly are now expected to be patient due to the linkage created with Turkey’s EU aspirations. Hearing sentences such as “any step to be taken by the EU for the Turkish Cypriots has to be a derivative of the EU- Turkey relations” is elevating our misery.
How bitter is it to know that, the status quo reached today; Turkey negotiating, Cyprus living with the membership and Turkish Cypriots suffering, trapped in “those areas of the Republic of Cyprus...”, is the result of the chain of misleading events, we and the EU have been living through the recent years.
We understand perfectly that the EU institutions have bigger internal issues to deal with. We know for sure that the “Reform Treaty”, the energy concerns, Kosova’s independence and many other high priority strategic issues need to be well attended. We also follow that, there are the sensitive external relations of the EU with Russia and the USA, due to Georgia, Moldova, Serbia, Iraq etc…
Your Excellency,
We see that the EU institutions, wrapped up in so many conflicts, have not been doing as much as we would expect them to do in taking care of the European Citizens living in Cyprus, a Member State, regardless of the suspension of the Acquis Communautaire. Firstly, taking a distance from the settlement of the problem and handing it over to the United Nations good offices, secondly, concerns about keeping Turkey anchored, thirdly, moving Cyprus issue well down in the list of priorities and fourthly, being very sensitive about the feelings of the official government of a member state, Cyprus; all very well understood, but surprisingly Turkish Cypriots are not on the immediate agenda. It seems that they are the chosen victims of the misleading path of the past.
We strongly believe that EU values and objectives can do much more for the exhausted Turkish Cypriot community. A Commission’s “EU Programme Support Office” or a “High Level Contact Group” of the political groups in the Parliament are not the remedies for the erosion of this community. Operations squeezed between non participation of the authorities of northern Cyprus and the hindrance of the Government of the Republic of Cyprus are not getting us anywhere and we trust you realise it as well as we do. We are very frustrated and we trust that you and your staff feel no different in this unique political mess.
The very basic facts that; the European Court of Human Rights consider the authorities in northern part of Cyprus as “local subordinate administration of Turkey”, together with the Government of Republic of Cyprus’s denial for the political rights and representation of the Turkish Cypriots in the Republic, and the last but not the least, the obvious demographic change in northern part of Cyprus, do not leave the Turkish Cypriot community any chance to salvage themselves from this vicious circle, on their own.
We, the members of the Turkish Cypriot community, desperately invite the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission, as well as the member states to recognise the urgency of our situation and move one step forward; either to act for the very existence of the Turkish Cypriot community or to announce “under the circumstances” their indifference or failure in looking after the citizens of the EU. Either way will surely be a new opening for the Turkish Cypriot community, thus this will be crucial for their future existence.
“The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights and shall offer its citizens an area of freedom, security and justice”. Would you say that these values and objectives work equally for all citizens of the Union? Unfortunately we do not feel that way.
Yours sincerely,
Ali Erel
President