Mejlis Leader Mustafa Jemilev’s Meeting with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Cyprus Republic to Ukraine Evagoras Vrionidis

26 January 2012

The Leader of Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, MP of Ukraine Mustafa Jemilev met with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Cyprus Republic to Ukraine Evagoras Vrionidis on January 12, 2013 in Kyiv. The meeting was held on demand of the Ambassador of Cyprus to Ukraine.

The main reason that made the Ambassador meet Mustafa Jemilev was the desire to find out why Mejlis Leader visited several times “the Northern part of Cyprus, occupied by the Turkish troops in 1974”, but never visited the Cyprus Republic (the Greek part of the island) – the member of the European Union and that have the diplomatic relations with Ukraine.

M.Jemilev responded that he has prejudices neither against Greek part of Cyprus, nor Greece, and his visits to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus were usually initiated by the President or Parliament of this republic to attend some ceremonial events or conferences. In addition, Turks, living in this part of Cyprus are the kindred people for Crimean Tatars; furthermore there are also the descendants of those Crimean Tatars that had to leave Crimea after its occupation by Russia.

Questioned by the Ambassador what is Mejlis Leader M.Jemilev attitude to the dislocation of the foreign Turkish troops in the territory of the sovereign republic, M.Jemilev replied that it’s a common knowledge that in compliance with the agreements, signed the troops of other foreign states were also dislocated in Cyprus, in particular Greece and Great Britain, as well as the UN peacekeeping forces. “At this, the Turkish troops came to Cyprus after the revolt of “black colonels” and proclamation of “hénosis”, in other words joining of Cyprus to Greece and the beginning of the large-scale repressions against the Turkish community of Cyprus, opposing the “hénosis” that violated the demands of the Constitution of the Republic of 1960,”- M.Jemilev noticed. “In order to make all foreign troops leave Cyprus there has to be the peaceful unification of the island on terms that will suit both to Greek and Turkish communities”.

In this connection M.Jemilev expressed his regret that the majority of the Greek community didn’t support the “Coffee Annan’s Plan” on island’s unification in the Referendum of 2004, though more than 65% of Turk-Cypriots supported this plan.

The meeting lasted around one hour.

In conclusion of the meting the Ambassador E.Vrionidis invited Mejlis Leader to visit the Republic of Cyprus in any time available. The Leader of Mejlis, MP of Ukraine M.Jemilev responded that he was very happy to accept this invitation, and on his part he proposed the Ambassador to visit Crimea where one could also meet with the leaders of the Greek community of Crimea.