'Cyprus accession to the EU in 2004 was wrong'

The accession of the Republic of Cyprus to the European Union was wrong, German MP Roderich Kiesewetter reportedly told the Turkish newspaper Milliet, stating that Turkey should be admitted to the EU as soon as possible.

The German Member of Parliament 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 Milliet's questions.

"We must overcome the impasse between Northern Cyprus, Southern Cyprus, Greece and Turkey. "The accession of 'southern Cyprus' to the EU in 2004 was wrong," he was quoted as saying, referring to the Republic of Cyprus.

He added that "this has also damaged military co-operation between NATO and the EU. 'Southern Cyprus' should never be a member of the EU. This cooperation between 'southern Cyprus' and Greece creates a toxic security situation in southeastern Europe, specifically NATO's southeastern flank ", the German MP allegedly said.

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 claims that "we have given the wrong message to Turkey 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 a member of the EU."