Turkish Cypriot Kibris Postasi newspaper (29.04.13, online) reports that the Turkish Cypriot leader, Dervis Eroglu has sent a letter to the President of the EU Commission, Jose Manuel Barosso telling him that the Turkish Cypriot side expects the Commission to prevent any action that “ignores the sensitivities on the island”. According to the paper, Eroglu noted that he felt the need to convey to Barosso his concerns regarding some developments, which took place in the EU. 

Saying that he congratulated President Anastasiades after the latter’s victory in the elections and invited him to a meeting for determining a road map for the commencement of the talks with the aim of finding a solution to the Cyprus problem, Eroglu added:
“While the Turkish Cypriot side takes positive and constructive steps for finding an overall solution to the Cyprus problem, the fact that the General Secretariat of the European Commission has sent a letter that instructs all general directors and heads of departments to use the Greek names in the signboards and names for northern Cyprus, is unfortunate. Such a move is far from contributing in the possibility of an agreement to be reached by the two sides on the island. We expect from the European Commission, as one of the leading institutions of the EU, to prevent any act which will ignore the sensitivities on the island”.

Eroglu said that using the mother tongue is one of the most fundamental human rights protected with various agreements and conventions of the EU and argued that it is Turkish Cypriots’ “most natural right” to use signboards and names in the Turkish language, which is their mother tongue.

Eroglu claimed that the Turkish language has been registered as one of the official languages of the EU in 2004 with the accession of the “Greek Cypriot administration”, as he called the Republic of Cyprus. He argued that in spite of all the calls made by the Turkish Cypriots in the direction of accepting the Turkish as one of EU’s official languages, the Greek Cypriots refuse to do this and in this manner they allegedly violate article three of their own constitution.

Eroglu also said that another issue, which caused disappointment to them, was the fact that the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Transports demanded from the representatives of the Turkish Cypriot civilian organizations, who participate in working visits in Brussels, to travel through the Larnaca International Airport. “I would like to bring to your attention that there is no international decision that prevents the use of the ports in northern Cyprus”, he alleged and argued that “it is not practical” for the Turkish Cypriots to use the Larnaca Airport. At the same time, he claimed, forcing them to do so is contrary to the EU norms and values.

Eroglu told Barosso that he hoped that next month he will meet with President Anastasiades and that this meeting could be the means for the commencement of the negotiations.

Eroglu concluded by arguing that avoiding decisions and actions as the above-mentioned decisions of the EU is of vital importance for not harming the efforts for finding a solution. 

CNA