The results of the survey indicate that 52% of Cypriots of the Greek origin believe that Cyprus must veto Turkish accession to the EU. 30% of the respondents believe that the decision must be based on the future evaluation of the Turkish policy, and only 15% are against the veto.
The survey was conducted on November 3-5 and involved more than 400 Cypriots of the Greek origin older than 18 years of age.
The Cypriot government has not officially disclosed its position on the issue. The EU decision to start the negotiation process with Turkey must be sanctioned by EU members in December of 2004.
Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan believes that Cyprus will not veto the European perspectives of Turkey.
"Head of the Greek-Cypriot administration (such is the Turkish designation for the post of President of Cyprus) Tassos Papadopoulos assured me in a frank and trustworthy manner that his government would not veto the decision," said Mr. Erdogan in an interview with Anatolian News Agency last Sunday.
Turkey occupies a third of the Cypriot territory since 1974. The self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, created on the occupied territories, has received official recognition only from Turkey. The world community officially recognizes the Republic of Cyprus, which controls de facto a bit less than two-thirds of the territory of the island.
After the accession of the Republic of Cyprus to the EU, Turkey found itself in a very delicate situation: claiming its desire to join the European Union, the country continues to occupy part of the territory of the EU member-country!
