‘Greek Umbrella’ to TRNC Increases the Tension

Representation of the TRNC under a Greek shadow was suspended since the Turkey committee abstained from voting. TRNC President, Rauf Denktas, severely reacted against the Turkish committee since it did not vote against the idea while TRNC Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat criticized the Turkish committee. Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul stated yesterday that the issue did not directly concern them but they are examining the issue

Noting Turkey’s abstinence in the vote, Denktas argued that it was a political blunder. Denktas said: "I guess we do not have a municipality to accept this. They should have voted against it. We wanted our municipalities, which have been separated since 1958 and accepted by the 1960 Constitution, to be recognized by ‘a separate status’ and have its place in Europe." Talat described the vote saying, ‘we shot ourselves in the leg. The Turkish committee has to explain this’. Stating that they would examine the issue, Gul said the vote was conducted among mayors, not deputies, so they can make no official instruction on the issue.

On the other hand, the EU did not object to Turkey’s exclusion of the Greek-Cypriot Side from the Customs Union and it maintains that attitude for now. The EU Commissionaire for Enlargement Günther Verheugen’s spokesperson, Christophe Filori, stated that such an approach could only be possible after meetings with the EU.