EU bias on Cyprus 'alarming': Turkish Cypriot leader

LEFKOSA, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

The biased stance of the European Union on Cyprus harms the efforts to reach a solution, the Turkish Cypriot president said on Sunday.

President Ersin Tatar issued a message on the occasion of Europe Day, which is celebrated every year on May 9.

"We regret to see that the EU has shifted away and acted against its basic principles on its perspective on the Cyprus issue," said Tatar in a message.

He added: "The bias of the EU on Cyprus is alarming and harms the efforts for a solution."

Tatar went on to say that the Greek Cypriot administration is using its EU membership as a "threat" and "blackmailing" tactic.

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long struggle between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

The island has been divided since 1964, when ethnic attacks forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety. In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aiming at Greece's annexation led to Turkey's military intervention as a guarantor power. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was founded in 1983.

The Greek Cypriot administration, backed by Greece, became a member of the European Union in 2004, although most Greek Cypriots rejected a UN settlement plan in a referendum that year, which had envisaged a reunited Cyprus joining the EU.