British Professor of International Law Prof. H. Mendelson Q.C.´s; opinion on the legal aspects of the one-sided membership application of the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus to the European Union No:184 - October 17, 2001 / Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Foreign Affairs

REPUBLIC OF TÜRKİYE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

British Professor of International Law Prof. H. Mendelson Q.C.´s; opinion on the legal aspects of the one-sided membership application of the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus to the European Union No:184 - October 17, 2001

The prominent British Professor of International Law Prof. H. Mendelson Q.C., has prepared a comprehensive opinion on the legal aspects of the one-sided membership application of the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus to the European Union. This legal opinion of Professor Mendelson has been published as a UN General Assembly and a Security Council document.

Professor Mendelson in his research dated 12 September 2001, revisits his earlier opinions of 1997 especially in light of the arguments to the contrary advanced by the Greek Cypriot Administration.

In this Legal Opinion, Professor Mendelson puts forward strong reasoning and evidence to prove that the Greek Cypriot Administration’s arguments have no validity from the legal perspective.

The main conclusions that Professor Mendelson reaches on Greek Cypriot’s application to the EU can be summarized as follows:

Greek Cypriot Administration’s application to join the EU is a breach of the relevant provision of the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee which stipulate that “Cyprus” cannot participate, in whole or in part, in any political or economic union with any State whatsoever, in which both Turkey and Greece are not members. Such application constitutes a breach of the Treaty of Guarantee, as well as the legal and political state of affairs established by the 1960 Agreements and the international commitments contained in them.

*The Guarantor States are also legally bound to prevent all activities which directly or indirectly aim at assisting the accession of “Cyprus” to the EU, which is prohibited by international Treaties. Therefore, United Kingdom and Greece are under legal obligation to prevent such attempts.

*Members of the EU, other than the Guarantor States, also carry a responsibility to prohibit coming into effect of such unlawful application.

There is no legitimate authority that represents both Parties in Cyprus. This application which has been made on behalf of the whole island, to which the Turkish Cypriot party did not give her consent” is legally null and void.

Professor Mendelson’s Opinion reconfirms the fairness and validity of the views expressed by Turkey from the outset. We expect the members of the European Union to make the necessasy assessment in light of these relevant provisions of international law and to take the necessary steps in order to stop this unlawful application by the Greek Cypriot Administration.

Despite all the objections raised by the Republic of Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, if this application is to be taken forward, this will inevitably bear serious legal and political consequences and have negative implications for the region.

NOTE: The text of the legal opinion of the British International Law Professor Mendelson (Further Opinion of Professor M.H. Mendelson Q.C. on the application of the Republic of Cyprus to join the European Union-89 pages) can be maintained from the official website of the UN, under the below stated web address.