Kathimerini, Greece
Oct 13 2006

Nicosia puts foot down on Turkey

Cyprus cannot act as if all is well in Turkish negotiations with the
European Union when Ankara persistently refuses to fulfill its
obligations as an EU candidate state, Cypriot Foreign Minister
Giorgos Lillikas said yesterday ahead of talks with Dora Bakoyannis
in Athens.

«We are simply implementing a policy which Nicosia had declared early
on to the European Union presidency and the European Commission,»
Lillikas said.

He was elaborating on an earlier declaration by Cypriot government
spokesman Christodoulos Pasiardis according to which Nicosia will
block progress in Turkish accession talks until Ankara opens its air
and sea ports to Cyprus.

According to Greece’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Giorgos
Koumoutsakos, Ankara’s failure to extend its customs agreement to
include Cyprus is «politically illogical.» «The obligations (Ankara)
has undertaken as regards the protocol are autonomous and
established,» he said.

Koumoutsakos also criticized Ankara for threatening France over its
draft law that aims to make it a crime to deny that the 1915-1917
genocide of the Armenians took place. «Threats or insinuations and
the aggressive tone of public statements do not befit a country on
the road to joining the European Union,» he said.

The Greek Parliament voted in 1996 to condemn the Armenian genocide
but Koumoutsakos said, «In the modern world, the past should not act
as a hindrance to the future.»

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress