Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman on Tuesday said that complaints he had raised regarding initiatives undertaken by the Greek Cypriot side to bring about the cancellation of international events organised by the Turkish Cypriots had been “carefully noted” by the European Commission.

He explained that he had sent letters both to the European Union and to the United Nations on August 28 a children’s football camp organised by FC Barcelona and a music festival in Kyrenia.

In response, he said, the commission had on Tuesday “stated that the issues raised by the Turkish Cypriot side regarding these actions and the concerns regarding the impact on the United Nations process have been carefully noted”.

“It shall be recalled that our letter also emphasised the timing of these obstructionist activities. The reply references the recent visit to the island conducted by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and underscores the importance of building trust between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots and fostering a positive atmosphere in order to create a conducive environment,” he said.

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He added that the commission had also said “that its objective is to build bridges, enhance dialogue, and foster rapprochement, both between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots and between Turkish Cypriots and the European Union”.

“In this context, reference is made, by way of citation, to the Council of the EU decision of 2004 regarding the ending of the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots,” he said.

The decision in question was taken on April 26, 2004, two days after the failed Annan Plan referendum to reunify the island, and five days before the Republic of Cyprus joined the EU without its northern third and without the Turkish Cypriot community.

It said that the EU was “determined to put an end to the isolation of the Turkish Cypriot community and facilitate the reunification of Cyprus by encouraging the economic development of the Turkish Cypriot community”.

Commission spokesman had earlier sidestepped question on Barcelona camp

Earlier in the summer, commission spokesman Maciej Berestecki had sidestepped a question on the matter of the football camp, saying that “I will not comment specifically on it”.

“What I can say and actually reiterate [is] our line on Cyprus, which is that the EU priority remains unchanged and it is to achieve a comprehensive, fair and lasting settlement for all Cypriots,” he said.

More recently, Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz had excoriated the Greek Cypriot side for its actions, saying that “on the one hand, they talk about democracy and European standards”, but that “on the other hand, they are clearly trying to punish the youth and the people of Cyprus”.

Erhurman had said in August on the matter of the festival that “Greek Cypriot diplomacy has been conducting a campaign for some time.”

“The summary is this: ‘lifting or easing the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots will eliminate their desire for a solution’ and ‘introducing new confidence-building measures will make the status quo comfortable’,” he said.

Later, he said that “I do not want any Turkish Cypriot or Greek Cypriot person to be deprived of the opportunities which young people in other countries have because of the Cyprus problem”.

‘The sadness which a Greek Cypriot young person may experience … cannot be my joy’

“The sadness which a Greek Cypriot young person may experience for such a reason cannot be my joy. As a human being, I cannot accept that the sadness which a Turkish Cypriot young person may experience for this reason should produce joy for any Greek Cypriot,” he said.

He later added that “cancelling a festival, attempting to prevent children from playing football, is, from my perspective, not a diplomatic victory, but is clearly a defeat for all people and humanity as a whole”.

However, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis took the opposite view, responding to a question on the matter asked by the Cyprus Mail by saying that “we are doing exactly what an internationally recognised state should do”.

Additionally, he insisted that the Republic of Cyprus was not “exerting pressure” on international organisations to bring about the cancellation of events, saying that “it is with diplomacy that we are operating, and what we are doing is to clearly present the real state of affairs”.