Özersay: “France should give up irresponsible behaviour”

In his written statement Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Kudret Özersay said that France abused its permanent membership in the United Nations Security Council and its veto power in line with its own national interests, and put forward approaches that would disrupt regional peace and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean region.

Özersay said, “As a state, France, which is not directly related to the Eastern Mediterranean, attempt to arm one of the parties of the dispute in this region and to conduct exercises by sending warplanes is nothing but abuse of its position within the UN and the EU. We request France to avoid this irresponsible behaviour as soon as possible. If France aims to get support from the Greek Cypriot side and Greece in the EU and to exist in the EU in this way, this is extremely inappropriate and it will harm the peace in the region and trigger tension”.

Özersay also said, “Every state is free to shape its foreign policy as it wishes. However, approaches that will endanger regional peace and cause tension are extremely wrong. If you are a permanent member of the UN Security Council, you cannot afford to adopt approaches that favour a party to international disputes. You need to find a balance between the sides of the conflict, keep your distance and avoid making overtures to somebody. For this reason, France’s behaviour is an example of irresponsibility, I hope they will give up this attitude as soon as possible”.