EU pays the price for admitting Cyprus: Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan

ISTANBUL

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gave a speech at Budapest's ELTE University. Israel's Ambassador to Hungary Ilan Mor was in the audience, according to daily Hürriyet. AA photo

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdoğan has once again slammed the European Union for granting membership to Cyprus, despite the reunification refusal among the Greek population in 2004’s referendum, saying that after the global financial crisis the Mediterranean island has gradually become a burden for other EU members. 

“They admitted south Cyprus and now they are paying the price. [The president of Cyprus, Demetris] Christofias said the other day that they went bankrupt. Now [the EU] will have to support [Cyprus],” Erdoğan has said in a speech at Elte University of Budapest during his bilateral visit to Hungary.

Erdoğan argued that the membership of some countries had nothing to do with the European acquis as they were admitted for “pure ideological sake” and Cyprus was one of them. He also called upon countries that pushed for a two-state solution to “embrace their promises.” 

“To begin, south Cyprus is not a state, it’s an administration. There is no such thing as Cyprus as a country. There is the Greek Administration of South Cyprus and there is the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus on the north of the green line,” Erdoğan said.