BY ZEYNEP GURCANLI
STAR- Columnist Zeynep Gurcanli comments on Turkey’s Customs Union agreement with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) stance on both Cyprus and the European Union. A summary of her column is as follows:
The Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) missteps on the Cyprus issue began even before Recep Tayyip Erdogan rose to the prime ministry. At one point Erdogan held up the ‘Belgian Model’ as a possible solution, but quickly dropped this in the face of objections from Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas. This retreat in the early days of his political power shadowed the future AKP steps on the Cyprus issue. Both Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and Erdogan have chosen to issue ambiguous statements on the issue, avoiding saying anything which could be binding. However, this careful stance wasn’t reflected in state policy, and when the government signed the Customs Union agreement with the TRNC it took the European Union very much by surprise.
The Europeans’ surprise about this agreement is very natural, since it completely contradicts the AKP’s policy towards the EU. Since 1996, Turkey’s customs have been united with the EU. The Turkish-European Union Customs Union agreement not only entails the duty-free flow of goods across borders, but also obligates Turkey to abide by EU rules concerning trade agreements with third countries. However, the EU doesn’t recognize the TRNC. Thus, by signing this agreement, Turkey violated its Customs Union with the EU.
Why did Ankara sign the pact with the TRNC? There are two possibilities, the first concerning a lack of information. As Erdogan’s blunder and subsequent retreat show, the AKP might not have understood the Cyprus issue at all. The second possibility is far more dire: sometimes foreign policy moves are meant to advance the ‘secret agenda’ of governments; that is, though the AKP has made its relations with the EU a top priority and constantly publicly reiterates this, actually it doesn’t want membership at all. I hope this step taken by the AKP in such a period has a better reason, one beyond my knowing.