Erhurman bemused as von der Leyen ‘ignores’ Turkish Cypriots
Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman reacted with bemusement on Thursday to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen’s speech at the opening ceremony of Cyprus’ six-month term as the holder of the Council of the European Union’s rotating presidency, saying she “ignored” the Turkish Cypriot community.
“We will not ignore being ignored,” he began, saying that “there is not a single line in the text [of von der Leyen’s speech] that mentions Turkish Cypriots”.
He added that von der Leyen had “described how ‘innovators in the field of artificial intelligence are developing the technologies of tomorrow in the shadow of Byzantine churches’ as if the only thing in the history of this island was Byzantium”.
“We absolutely do not have an understanding of ‘let’s ignore it so that our relations do not deteriorate’. For us, the truth is this: ‘let’s not ignore being ignored, let’s show it in every forum so that relations are put on the right footing’,” he said.
To this end, he said that under his leadership, the Turkish Cypriot side “neither avoids meetings, not avoids conveying our thoughts, facts, and truths when we meet”.
“This is precisely what we have been explaining, and will continue to explain, to all EU and EU member state officials when we meet, saying’ there is a need for confidence-building measures between the EU and Turkish Cypriots’,” he said.
On this matter, he said that he had “already explained our views on the political dimension of the issue and the anomaly regarding Cyprus within the EU at length”, and that “we continue to explain this to everyone we meet”.
“I believe that even a simple reconsideration of the text of this speech by EU officials would be enlightening in terms of understanding many of the things we are trying to convey. The Turkish Cypriot people existed, exists, and will continue to exist on this island. It is not only dialogue, patience, and composure that exists. Let no one overlook our determination,” he said.