BY FIKRET BILA
MILLIYET- Columnist Fikret Bila comments on relations between Turkey and the TRNC. A summary of his column is as follows:
Speaking to journalists en route to Kyrgyzstan about Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that those who’ve proven unable for 40 years to resolve the island’s issues shouldn’t then expect an 11-month-old Ankara government to solve this problem. This statement is the latest sign that the government considers Denktas an obstacle to an agreement on United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s plan for Cyprus. The government wants the plan signed because it thinks that doing so will seal Turkey getting a date for negotiations from the European Union in late 2004. There are no guarantees on this, but the government wants to at least try, that is, it wants to remove the obstacle of the TRNC and so boost its chances to start membership negotiations.
Not only Erdogan and his government, but also the EU, Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration see Denktas as an obstacle. For this reason, they’re working to make sure the TRNC opposition wins this December’s general elections in Northern Cyprus. The Turkish government also hopes that the opposition party will triumph, thus putting Denktas’ authority to negotiate into the hands of a new negotiator named by the new government who will surely sign onto Annan’s plan.
The TRNC’s history isn’t a long one. Nobody has forgotten why the Cyprus Peace Operation was carried out or how the TRNC was established and protected. Ending this issue by putting pen to paper before allaying the security concerns of Turkey and the TRNC is a great responsibility, because the EU might end up giving us more advice rather than the date for talks that we seek. If the EU tells Turkey, ‘Your situation is good but we can consider the issue at a later date,’ neither Turkey’s, nor the TRNC’s problem will be solved.