Letter of protest from Greek and Cypriot MEPs of the EPP for the registration of TurkAegean

The Greek and Cypriot MEPs of the EPP expressed their strong protest against the registration of the “TurkAegean” trademark by the European Union Intellectual Property Office to the President of the European Organization and the European Commission, according to a relevant announcement.

It is reported that, on the initiative of the Vice President of the EPP Central Committee in the EP, Vangelis Meimarakis, a letter of protest was sent to the President of the European Union Intellectual Property Office, Mr. Archambeau, and a question was submitted to the relevant Directorate General of the European Commission.

In their letter, MEPs called for a review of the decision, “because of its political implications”, which, as they characteristically point out, “could directly affect a European Union member state and its relations with an acceding country,” like Turkey “. Therefore, he is called upon to withdraw it as “exceeding the responsibilities of this organization”.

In addition, in their question to the European Commission, MEPs point out that “the use of this brand for tourism purposes is misleading because it inextricably links the Aegean Sea and the Greek islands with Turkey, which confuses tourists and challenges the sovereign Greece’s rights in the Aegean “. Finally, they ask the European Commission “how it plans to prevent the use of this trademark by Turkey”, as well as “what measures it will take to prevent the approval of similar trademarks in the future”.

SOURCE: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ