Roma, 19 July, 2010
To the kind attention of:
H. E. Derviş Eroğlu
President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

Mr. President:

Let us at the outset congratulate You once again on your recent election to the presidency for the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, we are sure that under Your guidance the Turkish Cypriots will finally be able to fully enjoy their civil, political, economic and cultural rights.

We are very sorry that we cannot be with our Italian colleagues on such an important occasion for the TRNC, but the combination of our Parliamentary activities and the imminent convocation of the General Council of our Nonviolent Radical Party do not allow us to move from Rome. Our absence from the Island does not mean that we have forgotten our second motherland. In fact, over the last few months, we have not missed an opportunity to raise the Cyprus question on all possible fora expanding the group of legislators that are now fully aware of the wrongs that the Turkish Cypriots have been suffering for over three decades now.

We have lived our TRNC citizenship with a pro-active approach addressing all aspects related to the matter in formal and institutional fora: from insisting with our Government on the need to upgrade the Office in Rome to facilitating contacts with Italian entrepreneurs in the touristic sector, from advocating a revision of the mandate of UNFICYP - making it become a monitoring mission - to uring Italy take a clear and positive position concerning the Direct Trade Agreement between the EU and North Cyprus.

Mr. President, we believe that we have reached a crucial and critical phase in the entire "Cyprus issue", which as we all know, goes hand in hand with the Turkish process to attain EU membership. We fear that if we are not able to bring about some concrete radical changes in the next five months, the whole matter will be expelled from the international agenda and become a marginal success of those that have opposed equal rights for all inhabitants of Cyprus.

Guided by this, we hope that in the months to come there will be even more opportunities to strengthen our relationship both in Rome at the European Parliament so that by the end of the year we will have something to celebrate for all together in Cyprus and in the continent.

We wish You, and through You to all our fellow Turkish Cypriots and those that have travelled from all over the world to be there on the 20th of July, all the best for the festivities.

Arrivederci!
Hon. Maurizio Turco
Sen. Marco Perduca