DISY accepts AKP invitation to Turkey

THE POLITICAL Bureau of opposition DISY last night decided unanimously to accept an invitation to Istanbul from Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP).

The visit, early next month, is designed to take place within the framework of the AKP’s request for membership of the European People’s Party.

Speaking after the meeting of the political bureau last night, DISY spokesman Tasos Mitsopoulos said agreement had been reached that a delegation should go within that framework, with the exact date to be announced soon. Reports suggested the visit will take place between February 6 and 9. The final composition of the delegation has not yet been decided, he said.

“We have already declared our wish that meetings take place on a political level but that depends on the programme of Mr Erdogan,” Mitsopoulos said.

He said President Papadopoulos had been informed.

Mitsopoulos also said that the bureau had discussed and was finalising a document setting out the party’s position on the Cyprus issue and how they believe it should be moved forward. The document is expected to be presented to the National Council tomorrow. He also said that a DISY delegation would be travelling to Athens next week to meet the Greek political leadership. Papadopoulos is due to visit Athens earlier in the week.

Although DISY has come under fire from small factions, mainly within DIKO, political and government reaction to the Turkish invitation is on the whole positive. DIKO acting chairman Nicos Cleanthous said on Tuesday that DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades, who supported the failed Annan plan, was not a suitable person to speak on behalf of the Cypriot people.

But House President Demetris Christofias said last night he did not see any problem with the visit. “We should exploit and develop such contacts in order to end the occupation,” he said. “Turkey cannot move forward within the EU if it continues to persist in not recognising the Republic of Cyprus.”

“DISY is a member of the European People’s Party and consequently this is a subject that concerns inter-parties relations in the European framework,” said EDEK leader Yiannakis Omirou.

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.