Erdogan’s visit in Varosha is an insult to all Cypriots, Dendias says at the EU Foreign Affairs Council

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias denounced the recent visit of the President of Turkey in the fenced-off city of Varosha, stressing that it constitutes an insult to all Cypriots.

Speaking at the EU Foreign Affairs Council, held on Thursday via a videoconference, Dendias stressed that the fenced-off city “is not the place for a picnic”. This action constitutes an insult to all Cypriots, Greek-Cypriots and Turkish-Cypriots, and violates blatantly the Resolutions of the UN Security Council, he said.

As he underlined, the European Council held on 1-2 October had decided to start “a positive dialogue” with Turkey, on the explicit condition that “Turkey should start constructive efforts to definitively end illegal actions against Greece and Cyprus”.

Dendias stressed that Turkey behaved in the complete opposite way, escalating its illegal actions in a region that overlaps the Greek continental shelf and ignoring the call to improve its relations with the European Union and the European member-states.

Against this background, Greek FM said that “under Turkey’s responsibility it appears that there is no room for a positive dialogue, and the EU should prepare and implement promptly the appropriate measures that will compel Turkey to respect the international law”.

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