The European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) called on Turkey on Thursday "to actively support the ongoing negotiations, to contribute in concrete terms to the comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus issue and to facilitate a suitable climate for negotiations by immediately starting to withdraw its forces from Cyprus".

With 51 votes for, five against and three abstentions MEPs voted on the amendments and motion for a resolution on Turkey's progress report 2010 as submitted by Dutch EPP MEP Ria Oomen-Ruijten.

The resolution "strongly urges the two communities in Cyprus to work intensively as asked for by the SG of the UN to capitalize on the progress already made in the negotiations in order to reach a sustainable solution, in line with relevant UNSC resolutions'', promoting in particular Resolution 550 (1984) and the principles on which the EU is founded, to the benefit of the Cypriot citizens, the EU and Turkey.

UN Security Council Resolution 550 (1984) considers any attempts to settle any part of the Turkish occupied town of Varosha (the fenced off area of Famagusta) by people other than its inhabitants as inadmissible and calls for the transfer of this area to the administration of the UN.

Famagusta was captured by the advancing Turkish troops during the second phase of the Turkish invasion, in mid August 1974. Since then, it has remained sealed off, under the control of the Turkish military.

Two amendments submitted by Cypriot S&D MEP Koulis Mavronikolas and S&D Vice Chairman Hannes Swoboda and Cypriot EPP MEP Eleni Theocharous and German EPP MEP Renate Sommer which call on Turkey to end the illegal settling of the occupied areas of Cyprus were also approved.

The report "encourages Turkey to intensify its support for the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus, in particular by facilitating its access to military zones in the north" with the addition of another amendment submitted by Cypriot S&D MEP Antigoni Papadopoulou asking for Turkey's contribution in the procedure by providing the Committee access to its records.

In addition the AFET report "deplores the fact that the Additional Protocol to the EC Turkey Association Agreement has still not been implemented by Turkey, which continues to affect the process of negotiations" and "calls on the government to fully implement it".

The report is expected to be discussed in the Plenary of the European Parliament in March and new amendments are also likely to be submitted in the meantime.

According to an official European Parliament Press release "among the key remaining challenges, MEPs list the worrying deterioration of press freedom, which is leading to self-censorship of national media and internet sites, and criminal prosecution of journalists denouncing human rights violations, the situation of women and rising rates of honour killings and forced marriages" and "the lack of protection of religious minorities".

The wording and specific demands of the text were according to the Press release "hammered out in tough negotiations among Parliament's political groups" as "just minutes before the vote, the EPP group agreed to withdraw an amendment calling on EU institutions to ''study

the possibility'' of establishing a ''privileged partnership'' with Turkey, as an alternative to full EU membership. In exchange, AFET "rejected several amendments by the S&D group that would have explicitly mentioned the ''common goal of full EU membership'' for Turkey, or called upon Member States to take an ''open and constructive'' approach to it.

Instead, the same wording as last year is used, describing the opening of Turkey's accession negotiations in 2005 as the ''starting point for a long-lasting and open-ended process''.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. As a result of the invasion, 1619 Greek Cypriots were listed as missing, most of whom soldiers or reservists, who were captured in the battlefield. The number of Turkish Cypriots missing since 1974 and 1963/64 stands at 503.

President of Cyprus Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu are currently engaged in UN-led negotiations with an aim to reunify the island under a federal roof.