Cyprus will refuse new chapters in Turkey EU accession negotiations while Turkey illegally occupies island's north. | |||||
Middle East Online | |||||
NICOSIA
- Cyprus on Tuesday threatened to derail a proposed EU deal with Turkey
to curb the flow of migrants to Europe, insisting on longstanding
demands including that Ankara recognise its government.
"Cyprus
does not intend to consent to the opening of any new chapters if Turkey
does not fulfil its obligations," Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades
said after talks with EU president Donald Tusk.
EU and
Turkish leaders agreed last week to a tentative proposal including the
return of migrants landing in Greece and a "one-for-one" swap of Syrian
refugees.
Cyprus has expressed reservations, not least
as its longtime adversary Turkey expects the accord to lead to the
opening of new chapters in Ankara's longstanding EU membership bid and
to ease visa requirements in Europe's passport-free Schengen area.
Anastasiades
said Cyprus would not accept "the Turkish demands without (the)
implementation of Turkey's long-pending obligations" in its EU
membership bid.
Tusk, who heads Tuesday to Ankara for
talks ahead of negotiations on the EU-Turkey proposal, admitted "we are
not there yet" in terms of a deal.
"The Turkish
proposal... still needs to be rebalanced so as to be accepted by all 28
member states and the EU institutions," he told reporters.
The
plan to expel migrants en masse from Greece has sparked international
criticism, with the UN's top officials on refugees and human rights
questioning whether it would be legal.
Officials have
also expressed concern over the potential need for compromise with
Ankara, as fears grow over freedom of expression and rights abuses under
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
"One of the issues to be sorted out is the key question of legality," Tusk said.
A
Cypriot refusal of the migrant-swap deal would effectively block the
largest diplomatic push yet to ease Europe's burden of accommodating
hundreds of thousands of refugees, many of whom enter the EU through
Turkey.
The island of Cyprus has been divided since
1974 when Turkish troops invaded its northern sector in response to an
Athens-engineered coup attempt.
Turkey does not
recognise the government of Cyprus and Nicosia has blocked six key
chapters of Ankara's negotiations for EU membership since 2009,
effectively halting the process.
Cyprus insists Turkey must first meet its longstanding demands for recognition, and to open up trade ties, ports and airports.
Complicating
matters further is a UN-backed negotiation process between Greek and
Turkish Cypriot administrations aimed at reuniting the island.
European
sources say EU officials admit that they took the wrong approach to
Cyprus's concerns, which were overlooked in the enthusiasm among members
states for a deal.
At one point last week in Brussels,
Anastasiades was involved in a heated confrontation with five key
European figures, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in which he
came under heavy pressure to back the accord, sources said.
Germany registered a record influx of asylum seekers that reached 1.1 million in 2015.
Tusk's Cyprus visit was arranged at the last minute -- a sign of Brussel's realisation that a new approach is needed.
"I am not here to exert pressure on Cyprus," the EU president told reporters. "I am here to listen to your position."
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Tuesday, 15 March 2016
Cyprus demands recognition from Turkey before consenting to EU deal
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