050203- CIPRO ACUSA TURCHIA .....

CYPRUS ACCUSES TURKS OF BRINGING IN NEW TANKS
By Charlie Charalambous - The Cyprus Weekly

CYPRUS has denounced Ankara for raising tensions on the island by strengthening its forces in the Turkish-held north with upgraded US-made weaponry during the Turkish Cypriot elections.
"According to our observations, the Turkish army has transferred to the occupied north fully-equipped and modernised US-made tanks and a significantly large number of armoured personnel carriers," Defence Minister Koullis Mavronicolas told a news conference.
He said the arms were "not replacements" but "additional weaponry" in moves to upgrade the capabilities of Turkish forces whose guns are trained on a weaker National Guard.
"Moreover, the increase in Turkey's occupational presence heightens tension across the ceasefire line," said the minister.
He argued that an arms build-up in the north did not contribute to efforts to find a Cyprus settlement or sit well with Turkey's own ambitions to join the European Union.
"This event alone shows a contradiction between the words and deeds of the Turkish side."

Meanwhile in Strasbourg…
(combines sources)
• Armenian genocide allegations spark fury in Strasbourg meetings
• Marios Matsakis accuses Turkey of three genocides

The Armenian genocide overshadowed the 53rd meeting of the Turkey-European Union Joint Parliamentary Commission in Strasbourg last Friday, as French right-wing deputy Jacques Toubon sparked harsh reactions from Turkish deputies when he displayed Turkey's recognition of the Armenian genocide as a condition for its membership to the European Union.
Turkey's relations with its neighbours such as Armenia, Greece and Cyprus were on the agenda during the last session of meetings which was held close to the press yesterday. Toubon suggested that Turkey should accept the Sevres Treaty of 1920, giving outright independence to the Armenians and autonomy to the Kurds.
Cyprus Euro MP Marios Matsakis a member of the joint parliamentary commission, stated that Turkey had committed genocide not only on Armenians, Greeks and Kurds.
Turkey's permanent representative to the EU, said proposing the ratification of the Sevres Treaty is unacceptable for Turkey, while a representative from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) said the genocide allegations should be examined by historians not by politicians.
The Armenian genocide is not only an issue for European deputies in Strasbourg, but has also been brought to the agenda of the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag) by Angela Merkel, the main opposition Christian Democrat Union (CDU) leader. Merkel is expected to introduce a proposal for the 1.5 million Armenians killed by the Ottoman Empire in 1915.
She said that the denial attitude of Turkey - that is the legal heir of the Ottoman Empire - does not go with the idea of `peace and forgiving' which is one of the EU's founding elements.
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