Cyprus denies it scuppered Dutch visit

By Jean Christou

CYPRUS has denied reports in a Dutch newspaper that it refused to allow a parliamentary delegation from the Netherlands to meet Turkish Cypriot politicians.

According to Saturday’s edition of Algemeen Dagblad, a delegation from the second chamber of the Dutch parliament cancelled their visit to Cyprus “because their freedom of movement was curtailed”.

“The Greek Cypriot authorities refused at the very last moment to agree on a planned conversation with the chairman of the Turkish Cypriot parliament, ” the paper said.

But a source at the House of Representatives, which was due to host the delegation, told the Cyprus Mail that the reports were inaccurate. He did, however, confirm that the Dutch delegation had cancelled its visit, which had been due to begin last Sunday.

“A framework for the visit was agreed by both, and at the last moment the Dutch failed to comply,” the source said.

He said what the Dutch delegation wanted was unacceptable, “and in our view would have constituted recognition of the illegal regime”.

“What is acceptable to us are fact-finding missions, meetings with political parties in the occupied areas and meetings with (Rauf) Denktash as leader of the Turkish Cypriot community.”

But the source said the Dutch delegation had wanted meetings with Turkish Cypriot ‘ministers’.

The Greek Cypriot side does not object to people crossing to the north on such visits on a private basis.

“But they wanted these visits under an official umbrella. The Republic of Cyprus could not accept this. We could not agree to an official visit,” the source said.

He said an appropriate official response has already been sent to the Dutch newspaper.

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.