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15 October 2004
Source: Cyprus Weekly
Author: Angelos Marcopolous
Turkey must recognise Cyprus, says CoE Cyprus rapporteur
"The Annan Plan was voted down by a great majority of the people of Cyprus and we must respect that."
TURKEY must recognise Cyprus "as soon as possible, it is only a
technical matter,'' Mattyas Eorsi, the rapporteur on Cyprus of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe said this week.
"We must find answers to the concerns expressed by the people in
the referendum (on the Annan Plan),'' Eorsi said in an exclusive
interview with The Cyprus Weekly.
The statement by Eorsi as the CoE rapporteur is important as it
tends to support the Greek Cypriots, who rejected the plan by an
overwhelming majority of 76%, while Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots, who
approved it, reject any alterations to it.
"The Annan Plan was voted down by a great majority of the people of
Cyprus and we must respect that. But now all efforts should be done to
find a political solution on the basis of the Annan Plan...and to find
answers to the concerns expressed in the referendum,'' he said.
Eorsi said he was ready to visit Cyprus to assist in a resumption
of talks between the two sides.
Such a dialogue must be conducted ``in a proper way,'' he replied
when asked whether he would use the CoE influence to bear on alleviating
Greek Cypriot concerns about certain provisions of the plan that fail
to conform with the EU acquis and the CoE's attachment to respect for
human rights and international law."
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