Turkey Calls For Exceptions To EU Legislation In Cyprus Settlement

by Lorys Charalambous, for LawAndTax-News.com, Cyprus

23 March 2004

Speaking ahead of a six day meeting on the matter set to commence in Switzerland on Wednesday, Turkey's Foreign Minister, Abdullah Gul called for exceptions to EU laws on freedom of movement and property ownership to be put in place for Cyprus when it accedes to the European Union on May 1.

Mr Gul made the announcement following a meeting on Sunday with the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the head of the Turkish military. The derogations from EU legislation have been requested in order to calm Turkish Cypriot fears that the Turkish-controlled northern third of the Island will be overrun with Greek Cypriot settlers following its EU accession.

Greek Cypriot president, Tassos Papadopoulos reiterated his government's position that a settlement agreement between the two factions must comply fully with EU law, a standpoint which was supported at the weekend by the Greek government.

Following the failure of earlier attempts to reunify the Island in time for its EU accession, Greece and Turkey have been brought to the negotiating table in order to exert pressure on the two communities.

However, progress in the forthcoming talks is likely to be hindered by the non-attendance of Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktash, who recently announced that he will not be attending the meeting because no agreement has been reached over freedom of movement and property rights.

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