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The accession of the Republic of Cyprus to the European Union was wrong, German MP Roderich Kiesewetter is reported to have told the Turkish newspaper Milliet, stating that Turkey should be admitted to the EU as soon as possible.
The German MP and special representative of the Christian Unity Party in the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs who was among the speakers at the Istanbul Security Conference answered questions from Milliet.
"We have to overcome the deadlock between Northern Cyprus, Southern Cyprus, Greece and Turkey. It was a mistake for 'southern Cyprus' to join the EU in 2004," he reportedly said, referring to the Republic of Cyprus.
He added that "this has also damaged military cooperation between NATO and the EU. 'Southern Cyprus' should never have been a member of the EU. This cooperation between 'southern Cyprus' and Greece creates a toxic situation for security in Southeastern Europe, on the southeastern side of NATO," the German MEP reportedly argued.
As he told Milliet, "therefore, first of all, there must be cooperation between NATO and the EU, the US and Canada. There is no alternative to this security cooperation."
He also argues that "we have given Turkey the wrong message about EU membership in the past. If there is no real privileged cooperation, there is no privileged cooperation and it should not be for show. Therefore, I believe that once the EU is reformed, Turkey should become an EU member."
Source: CNA
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