Cyprus will raise the agreement between Turkey and the occupied northern part of Cyprus on the construction of an undersea natural gas pipeline with EU foreign ministers, arguing that it violates its sovereign rights.
Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said he would brief his European counterparts on the agreement during the Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg. He described the memorandum as a violation of international law and the rights of the Republic of Cyprus.
Kombos said that, according to the Cypriot side, 659 violations of Cyprus’s airspace and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) were recorded in July and August and reported to the United Nations.
Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos called on Turkey to view its path towards EU membership as an “opportunity”.
He also noted that Turkey’s alignment with the EU’s common foreign and security policy stands at just 4%, despite being a candidate country for EU membership.
The Cypriot foreign minister stressed that Nicosia supports EU enlargement but said each candidate country’s progress should be assessed based on its performance and fulfilment of the relevant criteria.
He warned that without such an assessment, enlargement could negatively affect the EU’s security. He also urged Turkey to view its path towards EU membership as an “opportunity”.
Source: Kathimerini
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