Papandreou calls Turks to the European family

GREEK Foreign Minister George Papandreou yesterday told Turkish Cypriots that the Greek side wanted them to be part of the large European family and active citizens of the European Union.

He added Greek and Turkish Cypriots’ safety would be safeguarded by participation in the European Union rather than by occupation troops.

Speaking at a news conference after wrapping up a series of meetings held during a two-day visit to the island, Papandreou said: “We come at a very different time, with a new reality, which was formed over the past few years with specific policies that we followed.”

He said Cyprus’ EU Accession procedure had been finalised and that it was this new reality that had formed a new impetus, noting: “we can look to the future with a difference confidence in the broader region and Cyprus itself.”

He said this new impetus, including the partial lifting of restrictions of movement between the occupied areas and government controlled areas, had brought about specific results and positively mobilised for a Cyprus solution – “not only on behalf of the Cypriot government and the Greek Cypriots, who were always at the front in the struggle for the unification of the island and the solution of the problem, but has mobilised in the Turkish Cypriots themselves the hope that they can live together under one Cypriot, one European roof,” he said.

The Greek Foreign Minister pointed out taboos had crumbled, those same taboos that Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash and certain officials in Turkey had used to support the argument that Cyprus needed to remain divided because the two communities could not live together in harmony. He said Cyprus’ EU membership opened new prospects for the island’s role within the bloc as well as new opportunities for a comprehensive peace plan, and added that Cyprus’ geographical position in the region had a significant role to play.

With reference to Turkey’s aspirations for EU accession talks in 2004, Papandreou said Greece was pushing for a European Turkey, which would help contribute to overcoming historical problems.

“We have said that we want to welcome in 2004 a positive evaluation of Turkey to open negotiations for accession to the EU,” he said.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.