Turkish Cypriot President Dervis Eroglu has sent a letter of protest to the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barosso saying Turkey is upset that the European Union has directed its officials to use the Greek version for the occupied northern part of the island which only Turkey recognizes as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
No other country in the world accepts it as Turkey has kept troops on the lands it invaded in 1974 and refuses to remove them and won’t recognize Cyprus, which is a member of the EU, which Turkey hopes to join one day.
According to Eroglu, the use of the mother tongue is a human right, protected by agreements of the EU. In his letter, he stressed as well that, “The Turkish language is recorded by the EU as one of the official languages of the Greek-Cypriot administration.”
Finally, Eroglu said that he expects to meet Greek Cypriot Leader, Nikos Anastasiades, within the next month and hopes that this new round of talks will launch negotiations. Talks to re-unify the island have failed for 39 years and there is no sign of any progress.
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