Strongly critical of the European Union’s stance regarding the escalating tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea, amid ongoing Turkish provocations, DISY MEP and Head of the Cypriot Delegation to the EPP, Loukas Fourlas, took the floor in the European Parliament’s plenary session; who, in collaboration with his colleague Manolis Kefalogiannis, had requested that the issue be included on the Plenary’s agenda for discussion.
Mr. Fourlas highlighted the enormous number of violations committed by Turkey against the Republic of Cyprus, directly raising the issue of the European Union’s credibility and lack of response.
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“In just three months, the Republic of Cyprus recorded 520 airspace and 23 maritime violations by Turkey. That’s 543 violations,” he emphasized.
“And we’re still debating here whether and how Europe will respond. How many violations will it take for Europe to finally realize that there’s a problem?” he asked.
Mr. Fourlas called on the European Commission to clarify whether it would tolerate the same situation in any other member state.
“If these things were happening in Germany, Italy, or Spain, would you accept them? In Estonia?” he asked pointedly, emphasizing that the security and sovereignty of member states cannot be treated with double standards.
In his remarks, Mr. Fourlas listed a series of Turkish actions which, as he emphasized, constitute a direct challenge to the Republic of Cyprus, Greece, and the European Union itself.
“Turkey is behaving like a pirate in the Eastern Mediterranean. It is challenging
the sovereign rights of member states. It threatens with casus belli. It violates airspace and territorial waters. It interferes with European energy projects. It harasses passenger aircraft. And it continues to maintain occupation troops in Cyprus,” as he reminded European partners.
The Member of the European Parliament also posed another question to the European Commission.
“So I ask you: Are Cyprus and Greece any less European? I ask because that is how you are behaving.”
Loukas Fourlas noted that Cyprus and Greece are not asking for preferential treatment from the European Union, but for the practical application of the same principles and the same protections enjoyed by every member state.
“I am not here to ask for anything more than what every European citizen is entitled to: the right to security,” he concluded.
Upon concluding his remarks, Mr. Fourlas responded to an oral question posed by the German Member of the European Parliament from the Renew political group, Lucas Sieper, who asked whether we should set a limit and tell Turkey that, if it continues with all these policies that undermine European values, we will terminate the accession process.
In his response, Mr. Fourlas pointed out to the German MEP that “if anyone goes to Turkey, they will see that the prisons are full of people who are different. There isn’t a single writer or poet left who hasn’t been imprisoned, and anyone who speaks out against the Erdoğan regime is in prison.”
Respect for human rights, he emphasized, is a concept that Turkey completely ignores.
“And yet we are still discussing with Turkey whether it will become a member of our European family and whether it will join the security program to protect us. This is a huge hypocrisy.”
