By Yener Güneş
Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid of the Bundestag has, for the second time, rejected an official visit to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) planned by AfD deputies Achim Köhler and Maximilian Krah, both member of the Commission.
Köhler and Krah stated that the Bundestag had rejected the initial request because the invitation had come from the National Unity Party (UBP), the ruling party in TRNC. They said that the parliament had used the UBP’s political orientation as a “pretext” for refusing the visit.
But a second invitation, signed by Ziya Öztürkler, Speaker of the TRNC Assembly of the Republic, and backed by the TRNC government, was also rejected by the Bundestag.
The unapproved visit had been scheduled for August 24–29.
Aydınlık Europe newspaper asked Krah and Köhler about their intended visit to TRNC.
The purpose of the intended visit
What was the purpose of your visit? As members of the Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid of the Bundestag, what did you intend to examine on the ground?
The purpose of the visit was to observe first-hand the impact of the sanctions and the living conditions of Turkish Cypriots in Cyprus. It was a fact-finding mission entirely for humanitarian purposes.
A family from Northern Cyprus had reportedly sought compensation in connection with the construction of an airport in Southern Cyprus, but their claim was rejected. This is only one of many unresolved issues.
Another purpose was to establish dialogue with decision-makers on the island and to understand the views of both sides.
What political objectives did your visit pursue?
The purpose of our trip was to assess the Federal Republic of Germany’s current policy on Cyprus.
How and why rejected? How did the Bundestag justify its decision not to authorize the trip?
We submitted our first application for an official overseas mission following an invitation from the UBP, with the aim of assessing the situation in the TRNC on the ground and establishing dialogue with all parties on the island.
Representatives on the Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid (Dr Jonas Geissler of the CDU, Ralf Stegner of the SPD, Boris Mijatović of the Greens and Kathrin Fey of The Left) rejected the application.
The reason given was that the UBP was “a separatist, far-right party and therefore should not be visited.” However, this assessment failed to take into account the fact that the UBP holds 24 of the 50 seats in parliament.
The second invitation was issued by the Speaker of the Parliament of Northern Cyprus. Yet this invitation was once again rejected, this time without any explanation.
Will you appeal the decision?
Unfortunately, there is no possibility of appealing this decision. However, we have submitted an application for an official mission through the AfD parliamentary group, and we will do the trip using the group’s budget.
“The AfD has no policy on Cyprus as yet”
Germany does not recognize the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. How do you assess this? What is the AfD’s political approach towards the TRNC?
The AfD has sought to observe the situation in Cyprus first-hand and make a comprehensive assessment. To this end, it aimed to organize an official mission.
The party does not currently have a detailed and formally established policy on Cyprus. As in all conflicts, the AfD advocates a dialogue-based approach to the Cyprus issue. This approach takes the realities on the ground as its starting point.
How do you assess the European Union’s policy on Cyprus?
The European Union’s policy on Cyprus has failed. This shows that the policy could not adapt to the realities on the ground and was undermined by those realities.