Cypriot members of the European Parliament stood on the floor of the Strasbourg chamber Tuesday and demanded the EU stop...

Cypriot members of the European Parliament stood on the floor of the Strasbourg chamber Tuesday and demanded the EU stop treating Turkey as a partner and start treating it as a threat. Disy MEP Loukas Fourlas opened with barely concealed contempt for the parliament's annual Turkey report, calling it an attempt "to put the words 'Turkey' and 'progress' in the same sentence," and saying the two words simply cannot coexist. He ticked off what he called Turkey's ongoing record: illegal occupation of EU territory in Cyprus, daily threats of war against Greece, and sustained instability across the eastern Mediterranean. His conclusion was blunt. "This Turkey has no place in the European family." Akel MEP Giorgos Georgiou zeroed in on what he described as the EU's core contradiction, noting that Turkey is simultaneously sliding toward dictatorship under Erdogan while being handed defence funding access, upgraded customs union talks, looser visa arrangements, and European Investment Bank money. He said defence contracts and economic interests are simply outweighing political morality in Brussels. Elam MEP Geadis Geadi pointed to what he said had happened since the report was drafted in April: Turkish fighter jets flying over Nicosia, the harassment of aircraft carrying European defence ministers, and arrests in the buffer zone. He drew a direct parallel to Russia, arguing that Europe cannot condemn the occupation in Ukraine and tolerate the occupation in Cyprus. "Ankara does not perceive détente as an incentive for change, but as a weakness," he said. The parliament's report itself called on Turkey to allow Turkish Cypriots political space within the Republic of Cyprus, urged the European Commission to appoint a new envoy for the Cyprus problem after Johannes Hahn resigned last month, and welcomed UN Secretary-General António Guterres' steps toward resuming settlement talks. #Cyprus #Turkey #EU