The Cyprus government has expressed its dissatisfaction and disappointment over the resolution adopted on Thursday by the German Federal Parliament, Foreign Minister Yiorgos Lillikas said adding however that “there are also many positive elements in the resolution for our side''.
With the exception of the ultra-left communist party, all the German parties joined forces to pass a resolution, according to which Germany will work to over-turn the isolation of Turkish Cypriots in the education, business and finance and administration, rejecting a strong lobbying campaign mounted by the Cyprus Embassy in Berlin.
The German parliament also questioned and is casting doubt on the data provided by the government of Cyprus on the number of settlers in the north of Cyprus from Turkey. The German vote was carried out in the presence of the Undersecretary of Foreign Ministry, thus giving added weight to the resolution, which underlines the support of the German government. (
)
Invited to say whether the adoption of this resolution constitutes a diplomatic defeat for the Cypriot government, Lillikas said that “someone must first read the resolution, evaluate it as regards its value and important and see its content before putting a label on it.”
The government, he added, “has expressed its dissatisfaction and disappointment over the resolution, which is not binding for the German governments and we do not ignore the fact that there also many positive elements in this resolution for our side as well, and it refers to the reference for gradual withdrawal of the Turkish troops from Cyprus, on the issue of property and especially on the issue of the restoration of the state unity and sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus. We must not ignore these things,” he added.
“At the same time someone must evaluate the circumstances in which this particular resolution was promoted to understand the reasons,” he added.
Lillikas said the Foreign Ministry had made a lot of efforts and contacts regarding this resolution, before its approval by the German Federal Parliament and that Cyprus political parties had also taken initiatives to this direction, and thanked on the part of the government the parties for their actions.
Furthermore he underlined the difference between the legislative and the executive authority, the parliament and the government, in democratic countries.