Main opposition CHP says return of Oruç Reis to Antalya is ‘concession’

ANKARA

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), deemed the return of the seismic research vessel, Oruç Reis, to the Antalya port as a “concession.”

The CHP held an extraordinary Central Executive Board (MYK) meeting on late Sept. 13 to discuss the latest developments in the eastern Mediterranean. In a written statement, the main opposition party called on the government not to make compromises in Turkey's rightful cause.

“Turkey has been isolated in foreign policy and falls into a situation of making concessions in its rightful causes as the parliament is no longer a center of power,” it said in a written statement.

The foreign policy, which should be a “state policy” is primarily used as a material for domestic policy, said the CHP, noting that the Foreign Ministry and its bureaucracy were also “disabled and made manageable with the decisions taken by a single person.”
The party expressed concerns over a statement made by U.S. Secretary of State Mic-hael Pompeo’s on the Cyprus dispute.

“The fact that Pompeo signed a memorandum with the Greek Cypriot administration will further increase the tension in the region and make the peace settlement of the Cyprus and eastern Mediterranean even more difficult,” said the statement.

This agreement, which ignores the rights of the Turkish Cypriots, is also against the 1960 London and Zurich agreements, it added.