Red Cross’ failure to heed Cyprus Crescent criticized

KYRENIA / NICOSIA - Anatolia News Agency

The International Red Cross and Red Crescent movement was condemned at a conference organized by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) yesterday, for recognizing the Greek Cypriot Red Cross as the sole representative on the island of Cyprus.

The Northern Cyprus Red Crescent hosted the seminar, titled “Violation of International Humanitarian Law” organized by the Islamic Committee of the International Crescent, a group organized by the OIC. Participants in the seminar discussed the fact that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) recognizes only the Greek Cypriot Red Cross on the island, despite having received an application from the Northern Cyprus Red Crescent. Participants agreed it was unfair that the ICRC had failed to evaluate the Northern Cypriots’ application despite promising to do so. Meanwhile, Greek Cyprus’s announcement that it will continue settlement negotiations after it assumes the E.U. presidency on July 1 proves that it does not plan to reach a resolution before that date, Turkish Cypriot President Derviş Eroğlu has said.