

Attempt to Block Cyprus'Gas during Turkish Occupation fails at EUParliament: It Warns Ankara WarShip

*Brussels/EU Parliament/- A pro-Turkish lobby's attempt to practicaly Delay or even Block EU Member Cyprus' Gas findings, as long as the illegal Turkish Military Occupation still persists, (contrary also to EU's current need to ensure the Security of its Energy Supplies), clearly Failed to pass at EU Parliament, where a Big Majority of MEPs, on the contrary, voted a Resolution Warning Turkey that the Continuation and/or repetition" of its "Provocative Actions" and "Threats", "within the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Republic of Cyprus", (and particularly there where "the Italian company ENI and .. the Korea Gas Corporation" are exploring possible HydroCarbon Reserves in the Seabed),"could have a Negative Impact on Turkey's relations with the EU", including to the detriment of Ankara's controversial and unpopular EU bid.

EU Parliament's warning echoed many MEPs from various Political Horizons and EU Countries' calls for "Measures" or "Sanctions" to be decided by the EU vis a vis Turkey, for Not acting "in accordance with International, Law", but, on the Contrary, "Violating the Sovereign Rights of the Republic of Cyprus, and of International La<, including of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which is (alsoà part of the (EU's) Acquis Communautaire", as denounces in particular the Article 3 of the adopted Resolution adopted Today, at the conclusion of Brussels' mini-Plenary Session of 12 and 13 November 2014, (See also Infra).
Indeed, a Controversial Amendment initially tabled by certain "Green" MEPs notoriously linked with Turkish lobbies, had claimed that "the .. Exploitation of Natural Resources should ... become Part of the Negotiations" searching during 40 Years now to find a Political Agreement with the Ankara-supported representatives of the Turkish Cypriot Community currently living in the Territories of Cyprus Occupied by a Foreign, Turkey's Army, since the 1974 Deadly Military Invasion. It had, moreover, asked, for EU Member State Cyprus' Natural Resources to "become Part of a broad set of CBMs ("Confidence Building Measures"), aimed at Sharing Resources", even before and independently of any Political Solution to the problem of the ReUnification of Cyprus, i.e. while a Foreign Turkey's Military Occupation of the Northern part of the Island would persist... Something which would obviously result, in practice, into .. Sharing EU Member Cyprus' Gas with Turkey's illegal Foreign Military Invasion/Occupation !
But, placed in front of the Risk to have its Controversial Amendment clearly Rejected by a Strong Majority inside EU Parliament, the above-mentioned Turkish lobby prefered, at the Last Minute, to .. "Withdraw" its Text, in order to avoid a too obvious Watershed and Backlash by an obviously unavoidable Reject from almost all other Groups of MEPs... And accentuating even further its Isolation, it became the only one Group of MEPs to be alone to even deny its support to the entire EU Parliament's Resolution, which was officially backed by all other Groups of MEPs.

On the Contrary, a very Large Majority inside EU Parliament, of 535 MEPs against only 110, voted in favour of Keeping especially the Paragraph 6 of that Resolution, which Encourages the on-going EU Member Cyprus' Gas Findings, by declaring that "if properly Managed, the Discovery of Significant HydroCarbon Reserves in the Region could Improve Economic, Political and Social relations between the two Communities in Cyprus", while also "sharing the UN view that any Gas Finds would Benefit Both Communities in Cyprus if a Lasting, Political Solution can be found", i.e. obviously with the ReUnification of the Island, according to UN SC relevant Resolutions, and by putting an End to any Turkish Military Occupation, since, in such case, Ankara would naturally have to Withdraw its Foreign Invasion-Occupation Troops away from Cyprus, as the UN Security Council and other European/International Organisations have asked.
- EU Parliament's Resolution "on Turkish actions creating Tensions in the Exclusive Economic Zone of Cyrus", "Deplores the Escalation of Threats, and Unilateral action by Turkey against the Republic of Cyprus in relation to the EEZ; recalls the Legality of the EEZ of the Republic of Cyprus", which "has the full and Sovereign Right to Explore the Natural Resources within its EEZ, and ("stresses") that the Turkish maritime surveys must be seen as both illegal and Provocative" there, since such "Turkey’s actions constitute a Violation of the Sovereign Rights of the Republic of Cyprus and of International Law, including the UNCLOS", and, moreover, "these actions and Threats undermine the continuation of Negotiations for a comprehensive Settlement of the Cyprus problem", "in this very sensitive Region", which, on the Contrary, needs "Stability", (instead of Turkish WarShips).

=> Therefore, EU Parliament "Urges Turkey to show restraint and act in Accordance with International Law", "demands that Turkish Vessels operating in waters in and around the EEZ of Cyprus be Withdrawn Immediately", as well as "urges Turkey to immediately Revoke its NAVTEX ("by which it ‘designated’ a large area within the Southern part of the EEZ of ...Cyprus as ...Reserved for ...surveys ... by the Turkish vessel "Barbaros" from 20 October to 30 December 2014", "Affecting Blocks .. allocated to the Italian ENI and to Korean KOGAS), "and to Refrain from any Violations of the Sovereign Rights of the Republic of Cyprus", but, on the contrary, "calls on Turkey to Respect the Sovereignty of EU Member States over their Territorial Waters; reaffirms that the Sovereign Rights of the Member States include the Right to enter into Bilateral Agreements, and the right to Explore and Exploit their Natural Resources in accordance with the UNCLOS".

+ Moreover, the adopted Resolution "calls on Turkey to Respect and fully Implement the Declaration issued by the European Community and its Member States on 21 September 2005",(mainly about the Recognition of EU Member Cyprus, instead of Turkey's grossly Provocative Denials of 29 July 2005 : Comp. "EuroFora"' co-Founder's relevant NewsReports from London and particularly from UNO's Headquarters at New York, 9/2005, published as Headline News at "TCWeekly"), "including the provision (on) the Recognition of all Member States", as "a Necessary component" of Turkey's controversial and unpopular EU bid.
Meanwhile, EU Parliament officially "Supports the Rights of the Republic of Cyprus to lodge formal Complaints against Violations within its Sovereign Territory or Waters to the UN and the International Maritime Organisation", and "requests that the European External Action Service and the Commission closely follow Turkey’s activities within the EEZ of the Republic of Cyprus, and Report back to Parliament", under the auspices of New EU High Representative Federica Mogherini.

+ In Addition, with a Last-Minute adopted Amendment (tabled by the Socialist Group and adopted with 359 Votes against 222 and 83 Abstentions), the Resolution "expresses its continued commitment to, and support for, the ReUnification Talks under UN auspices for a comprehensive Settlement of the Cyprus problem". It also "supports the Efforts of the UN SG’s Special Adviser on Cyprus, Espen Barth Eide (from Norway), to create the Necessary Conditions for De-escalation and the Resumption of the Talks", as says an Additional Sentence, submitted to a Separate Vote, which, curiously, almost Divided EU Parliament, by getting just 360 Votes, against 271 "No" and 30 Abstentions, while EU Parliament's main Resolution Denounces the Fact that "Turkey’s actions within the EEZ of the Republic of COINCIDE with the Recent Appointment of the New Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General, Espen Barth Eide, and are Negatively Affecting the Negotiations aimed at reaching a comprehensive solution to the Cyprus problem", (Alinea E).


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Scientific innovation joined to Faith for Human Rights, Eastern Partnership and fight against the Crisis, but above all, the need to overcome the "Crisis of Trust" from EU Citizens, are the main priorities for new EU Parliament's President, Polish Jerzy Buzek, that a 555-votes-strong majority of MEPs on July 14, Strasbourg made a living symbol of the fact that, 20 years after the fall of Berlin Wall (1989 - 2009) there is no more an Eastern or Western Europe, but only one Europe, as the head of the largest group of MEPs, ChristianDemocrats/EPP, Joseph Daul, stressed after the event.
Speaking later to a group of Strasbourg's Journalists, including "EuroFora", the new EU Parliament's President clarified his stance on concrete topical issues, as f.ex. that of Turkey's controversial EU bid, which was one of the main issues of the June 2009 Electoral campain, clearly won by his party of ChristianDemocrats/EPP : - "At present, Turkey does not fullfil none of EU conditions", he stressed, (See infra).

Buzek is well known in Strasbourg and to "EuroFora" as EU Rapporteur for the Framework Program of Scientific Research and Development of Technologies. A Natural Science Professor from the Historic and Religious landmark Polish City of Częstochowa, active in the famous Solidarnosk grass-roots social movement, he served 4 years as Prime Minister (1997-2001), before being elected as MEP in 2004 and 2009, after he brillantly won the latest EU Election at the head of his party (EPP) almost doubling the number of its MEPs from 15 to 28 !
- "Innovation" and "Energy safety", as well as fight against the "Cimat change", but also "Eastern Partnership", the "Mediterranean", "Strategic partnerships" with Russia, the USA, etc, and the search for "solutions to the Economic Crisis" that EU Citizens "expect" from us, will be his "priorities", announced from the outset the new EU Parliament's President, reminding also that the quest for "Human and Civic Rights" played an important role in his experience with the Solidarnosc grass-roots social movement in Poland's History
But, the most important of all, is the urgent need to overcome the "Crisis of Trust" between EU Institutions and the People he stressed : - EU "Citizens often don't understand us", denounced Buzek, launcing a call to "do anything for EU Citizens to understand our work" in EU Parliament : "We (MEPs) need to make EU Citizens involved" in "what we are doing every week, in Strasbourg and Brussels", he proposed. Pointing f.ex. to the hot "Debates" with "strong arguments" exchanged between MEPs during the preparation of their Legislative Decisions, in Committees, delivering often hard struggles between initially opposed points of view, long before forging a majority at the final vote, sometimes more than a year..
Therefore, EU Parliament will be "open to your criticism, for discussion and exchange of views", he promissed to Journalists in Strasbourg.
In this way, Buzek, in fact, highlighted "EuroFora"s main idea, that we strongly advocate since 1997-2007, to systematicaly and actively involve EU Citizens in public debates during the decision-making process of important EU measures, which affect their lives and the society in which they live, (and not only just a few weeks each 4 or 5 Years at the eve of EU Elections)...
--------------------
This is related also to the symbolic gift that Buzek chose to give to the out-going former EU Parliament's President, Hans Gert Poettering, (2007-2009), his collegue in the ChristianDemocrats/EPP, who brillantly won 2009 EU Elections in Germany : A genuine statute of sainte Barbara crafted in Silesia's black Coal by Polish Miners : Those simple but strong people who fought for social change against some technocrats and bureaucrats disguissed into so-called "real-socialists" of old times. (PHOTO).
It's enough to have seen a popular open air mass, at Warsaw's center, with many thousands of people, old and young, simple workers and intellectuals mixed together, with references to Poland's history and struggles for survival and liberty, through various ages, (as fex. that organized at the eve of CoE's 2005 panEuropean Heads of State and Government for the beatification of late Pope John-Paul II), in order to understand what such symbols mean..

But, overcoming the "Crisis of Trust" with EU Citizens obviously implies also to rectify any errors done in the past, fex. on Turkey's controversial EU bid, with controversial decisions taken in 1999 and 2004 to give a "candidate" status and to start EU negotiations, provoking an unprecedented series of 3 "No" to EuroReferenda and 3 Majoriy Abstentions in EU Parliament Elections : 1999, 2005 and 2009, (even if the latest one succeeded to decelerate and almost stop the drop of participation rates, opening hopes for vote's revival after an electoral campaign clearly critical to Turkey's claims in several mainstream EU countries)
Therefore, Buzek was faced with manifold critical Questions on EU Enlargement, most of them citting concrete examples of certain political problems : But his replies were almost always given as a matter of general principle :
F.ex. Questioned on the suspension of EU - Croatia talks because of a Border conflict with EU Member Slovenia, Buzek prefered to speak about principles :
- "We know that during Enlargement, the process can be blocked by failure to resolve this kind of issues", This concerns also other enlargments' cases", and "these rules are always in force" he warned.
But Buzek avoided to directly reply to a queston on "French and German EPP' calls to define the Borders of Europe", as a German journalist asked him by making a reference to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and German Chancellor Angie Merkel's, critical statements on Turkey at the June 2009 Electoral campain.
- "Concerning Enlargement, there's always the same rules : There have to be Criteria, which have to be respected if a Country wants to join the EU", he started to simply reply.
- "For my country (Poland) it took us 15 Years to fullfil these Criteria", Buzek reminded, indicating, if proportions are kept, that Turkey, fex. would have to spend some 25 years before eventually joining the EU..
- "Countries wishing to join the EU need to Change their Systems", as we (Poland and other former Eastern European Countries) did, he stressed.
- "'For me, meeting the condition of Human Rights is one of the Key conditions for membership in the EU", preferring again to speak from the point of view of General Principles, on the occasion of an untimely question on Serbia (which is not even a candidate yet)...
- "Turkey" has, "first of all", to fullfil (EU) Copenhagen criteria". Bevause, currently, none of them is fullfiled by Turkey", New EU Parliament's President, denounced, speaking later to a group of Journalists, including "EuroFora".
In particular, on Human Rights : - "We (EU) can never forget Human Rights", because "this is at the very Foundations of the EU", Buzek added.
On the contrary, when he referred to EU Enlargment for the "Western Balkans Countries ", Buzek appeared upbeat, finding "promising situations", despite "difficulties" in the Past, since "Countries are queuing to become EU members", and this "generated changes", as he said.
As for Russia, Buzek observed that it was a "very important" country, located "in the same Continent", Europe, "close to our borders", and "we need eachother". "But Russia' has 'differend poblems : "They claim that their system is Democratic, but rules are differend", and we must be "aware of such differencies", fex. "on Human Rights", that we can't ignore, as he said;
Concerning China, where a journalist observed that the recipient of EU Parliament's latest "Sakharov prize" for freedom of thought is "still in prison", Buzek found that since the 1999 events in Tien Amin square, "we see differencies on Human Rights still today", and expressed his "support" for those who try to ameliorate the situation.
On the contrary, speaking recently to "EuroFora" he strongly supported the idea for an EU - Ukraine cooperation, fex. between Airbus and Antonov, in order to build a less costly but more performant than the old and problematic A400M, new Military Transport Airplane : - "They (Ukranian Antonov Company) can certainly do it. I'm sure they can. It's a good Idea, and I'd be glad if it was done", he told us. (See : http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/airbusantonov.html )