EU's report on Turkey biased, says Turkish prime minister

“Regretfully, the Turkish public has become frustrated by anti-enlargement remarks and debates as to whether Turkey is a part of Europe,” said Erdoğan on Thursday during a luncheon with the ambassadors of EU countries.

“Although all member states signed the agreement to kick off accession negotiations with Turkey, it is discouraging and unrealistic to question its European identity.”

It is only possible for Turkey to accept reports from the EU if they are neutral, unbiased and unhampered by the internal politics of the bloc’s parliament, he said.

The parliament endorsed Wednesday the 2009 Turkish EU accession progress report that criticized the country on the Cyprus issue.

"It's upsetting that the report touches on what Turkey has failed to do but fails to mention the promises that the EU failed to meet regarding Cyprus," he said.  

According to the parliament, “[Turkey must] facilitate a suitable climate for negotiations by immediately starting to withdraw its forces from Cyprus, by addressing the issue of the settlement of Turkish citizens on the island and also by enabling the return of the sealed-off section of Famagusta [Gazimağusa in Turkish] to its lawful inhabitants in compliance with Resolution 550 (1984) of the United Nations Security Council.”

The Famagusta section is called Varosha (Maraş in Turkish) and is now a military zone closed to civilians. In 2006, Finland, then the EU’s term president, suggested opening northern Cyprus’ port in the city to international trade under EU administration in return for opening a limited number of Turkish ports to traffic from Greek Cyprus while also transferring Varosha to U.N. control. The plan ultimately failed despite long-running talks between the parties.

The island of Cyprus was divided into a Turkish Cypriot north and Greek Cypriot south in 1974 when Turkey intervened to prevent an Athens-backed coup. More than 30,000 troops are now on the Turkish-controlled section of the island.

Cyprus joined the EU as a divided island in 2004 although Greek Cypriots in the south rejected a U.N. reunification plan in twin referendums during the same year although Turkish Cypriots overwhelmingly supported the proposal.

The leaders of the two sides have been negotiating to reach a settlement in a process that has been criticized as slow moving. "We continue to be a guarantor for Cyprus. The short period coming up now is a very important phase in the Cyprus process," Erdoğan said. "Negotiations cannot last forever."

The Turkish Foreign Ministry criticized the report as well in a written statement released Thursday. “The report should be penned with an objective and encouraging approach. We see one-sided, unrealistic and unacceptable elements in the report that may negatively affect the accession process. It is thought-provoking that the report stressed what is expected from Turkey but ignored what commitments the EU has failed to carry out toward Turkey.”

/Hurriyet Daily News/