The report on Turkey approved by the European parliament on Wednesday is a “biased document” which “ignores the will of the Turkish Cypriot people”, Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar said.

He said the report and other European Union documents concerning Turkey are “disconnected from reality and prepared with political motives”.

“The EU, in clear violation of its own rules, accepted the Greek Cypriot side as a full member in 2004, and with this move, it lost its neutrality on the Cyprus issue. Therefore, it is unrealistic to expect EU institutions to take any stance other than acting as the mouthpiece of the Greek Cypriot leadership,” he said.

He said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Cyprus, which drew the condemnation of MEPs later on Wednesday evening, “is one of the strongest manifestations of the will of the Turkish Cypriot people and their right to sovereignty over their lands”.

“Describing this visit as illegal is evidence of an impudent attitude which targets the existence and the institutional legality of the Turkish Cypriot people. The TRNC is one of the most concrete realities on this island, which cannot be ignored or denied. Such futile attempts to ignore the will of the Turkish Cypriot people have no validity,” he said.

The EU “belittles, questions, and overshadows every step taken by the Turkish Cypriot people” and it is this which is “damaging the environment which United Nations secretary-general defined as a ‘new atmosphere’” after the enlarged meeting on the Cyprus problem in Geneva in March.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s foreign ministry released a statement of its own on the matter, saying the report “contains distorted, prejudiced, and unrealistic allegations against our country”.

“We reject the baseless assessments of an institution which provides grounds for propaganda for terrorist organisations and certain circles which have made anti-Turkey sentiment their raison d’être, regarding the political dynamics in our country, our foreign policy, and our president’s visit to the TRNC,” it said.

“Our basic expectation is that the European parliament will do its part to maintain our relations with the EU on the basis of mutual benefit in the coming period, including with regard to our accession process.”