BY ISMET BERKAN
RADIKAL- Columnist Ismet Berkan writes on Turkey’s EU accession and the Cyprus issue. A summary of his column is as follows:
‘Well now, Turkey should become a European Union member in 2007 together with Romania and Bulgaria,’ said Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi during a conversation with a few Turkish businessmen. Can we regard this as a promise from the EU, since Italy will take over Union’s term presidency in July? Of course we can’t! What Berlusconi said during an unofficial conversation might only be considered a heartfelt wish. That’s all. However, unfortunately our politicians seem to take his statements very seriously!
Even our foreign minister recently said that Turkey’s aim was to fulfill the Copenhagen criteria this year and begin our membership negotiations in 2004. However, we all know that the EU Commission is due to make a decision on Turkey’s membership only in December 2004. So if our foreign minister was speaking seriously, that means Turkey will have to complete all necessary legal regulations, and eliminate all practical obstacles to implement these changes within very short order. Furthermore, Turkey will also have to find permanent solutions to its Aegean problems with Greece, including the Cyprus issue. The clock is ticking, especially for Cyprus. However, we’re still deceiving ourselves as if we’ve already won the game! But in truth, from now on, Turkey must exert even more efforts to break the deadlock on the island.
Let me put it this way: I believe that the Greek Cypriots will do their utmost to escape from the negotiations table. They’ve already reached a ‘final victory’ on their own terms. They will probably resist Turkey’s effort and try to maintain the status quo, which is why Turkey could seize this situation by demonstrating to the world that our government is striving for a solution even as the Greek side remains obstinate. Let’s not forget that Turkey needs to win international support on this issue.
In brief, the issue of EU membership is still very important to Turkey, which is why we should not fool ourselves with illusions. Let’s not forget that many steps remain ahead of us. We need to come round to the facts. That’s the only way we can win.

SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION