“These bullets will be used against Cyprus and Greece” – Cypriot MEPs shout for action 

The Cypriot MEP, Lefteris Christoforou, made an intervention in the Plenary Session of the European Parliament in the debate on Varosia, in the presence of the EU High Representative Josep Borrell. 

In his speech, the Cypriot MEP made strong statements towards Mr. Borrell, characteristically stating that: “I call on all of you, here in the European Parliament and in the EU, to defend my city Famagusta, which is also yours, because Famagusta is a European city. I urge you to force Turkey to return our city to its rightful inhabitants.”

“Mr Borrell, yesterday and not today, you should have terminated the EU Customs Union, cut off all funding to Erdogan’s Turkey and not let a single bullet leave the war industry of the EU countries for Turkey, since you know that these bullets will be used against Cyprus, Greece, Syria, Libya and against our Armenian brothers in Nagorno-Karabakh.”

Recently, the action of the Cypriot MEPs has been intensified and focused around the issue of Varosia, the sanctions against Turkey, but also for the criminalization of the “Gray Wolves” movement in Europe. 

MEP Costas Mavridis also called for the immediate imposition of financial sanctions and an arms embargo on Turkey by the European Council. “The problem is Turkey, and as long as the European Council remains committed to the policy of appeasement, the human cost that we will pay to get rid of the neo-Ottoman policies of the neo-sultan in Ankara is accumulating. We heard (in the initial speech of the President of the European Commission) about a new policy on terrorism. But we offer a ‘positive agenda’ to the arch-terrorist of Ankara. The European Council is left with nothing but to impose financial sanctions and an arms embargo on Turkey now,” Mavridis said.

On his part, Lucas Fourlas, along with Lefteris Christoforou and in cooperation with Greek MEPs, tabled an important amendment to the European Commission Resolution.

The amendment calls on the European Council to take action and impose severe sanctions on Turkey for its illegal actions in Famagusta and for its general, provocative aggression.

In addition, during yesterday’s debate, at the Plenary Session of the European Parliament in Brussels, MEP Dimitris Papadakis stated that he was lucky to be born in Famagusta, in Varosia and that they left to escape the Turkish troops, without this being their choice.

Finally, the MEP stressed that in order for Turkey to stop making fun of us, severe sanctions should be taken against it and the city of Famagusta should be returned to its rightful inhabitants.

A crucial spot in the action and coordination of the Cypriot MEPs, in our opinion, was the refusal of Niazi Kizirgioulek and George Georgiou to co-sign a letter banning the action of “Gray Wolves” in the EU. The letter was an initiative of MEP Costas Mavridis and the incident raised a storm of reactions in the Cypriot public, after the report of George Tattis on ThemaOnline. 

Also read: Letter condemning Turkish military actions | Cypriots and Greeks among the members