E.U. Struggles to Obtain Guarantee from Greeks

In a discussion about the Cyprus bylaw yesterday, the E.U. faced serious Greek objections. Meanwhile, as the European Council Parliamentary recommended that the United Nations review the sanctions applied to the Turkish side in a proposal they prepared, Ankara urged the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus to focus on strengthening itself before focusing on recognition.

When the E.U. started membership talks in March of 1998 despite all the objections from Turkey, the Greek leader at the time, Glafkos Klerides, promised Brussels they would support U.N. plans. Based on this, the union would start talks with the Greeks and the Greeks would accept a plan developed by the U.N. concerning the Cyprus issue. The E.U. started the talks on the condition that the Greeks accept the U.N. plan.