The draft resolution on the progress report of Turkey, penned by Dutch Christian Democrat Ria Oomen-Ruijten and adopted by the Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday, called on Turkey to hand over a Turkish Cypriot town to Greek Cypriots and to immediately begin the withdrawal of Turkish troops from the northern part of the island in order to contribute to ongoing reunification talks led by the United Nations between Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders.“Turkey attributes importance to the European Parliament’s embrace of a balanced and objective approach in its reports in which it evaluates developments concerning our EU membership process and makes constructive contributions to our membership process,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement late on Thursday.
“Elements linked with Cyprus and which the European Parliament wants to include in the report are related to a solution and are subject to negotiations that aim to reach a solution. We expect the European Parliament to support efforts that could lead to a positive result at the end of the process for reaching a comprehensive solution in Cyprus. Contrary behaviors have the possibility of casting a shadow over the European Parliament’s credibility and making it seem like it does not serve any goal,” the ministry statement, which came in the form of an answer by Foreign Ministry spokesperson Burak Özügergin to a journalist’s question, said.
The European Parliament will debate the draft resolution on Feb. 10, and voting will take place on Feb. 11.
