BY FERAI TINC
HURRIYET- Columnist Ferai Tinc writes on the recently released EU Progress Report on Turkey and its implications for the Cyprus issue in particular, and Turkish-EU relations in general. A summary of her column is as follows:
This isn’t the first time that the European Union has advanced resolution of the Cyprus problem as a condition for our full membership. Since 1995, this issue has been tossed around like a political hotcake between Ankara and Brussels. Let’s recall that the Helsinki Declaration also included statements on the Cyprus and Aegean problems.
I remember Paavo Lipponen, the Finnish prime minister of those times, sending a letter to then Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit to ease Ankara’s concerns on the issue, stressing that in the relevant paragraphs 4 and 9a, the Helsinki declaration only highlighted the need to establish a sound political dialogue rather than stipulating conditions. What exactly did those paragraphs say? They were among the sections laying out the EU criteria that must be fulfilled by the candidate countries. Paragraph 4 stipulated that the candidate countries should resolve their border problems, which for Turkey means its Aegean problems. Paragraph 9a was about Cyprus. Today, the same issue is again being discussed as part of the political dialogue between Ankara and Brussels. But what if the relevant parties fail to maintain a sound political dialogue? How can our membership negotiations begin in such a case? There’s no point in insisting that the Copenhagen criteria don’t include Cyprus. The decision to be made by the EU in 2004 on Turkey’s membership talks will be a political one. The Justice and Development Party (AKP) should steel itself for a new letdown. But are Turkish-EU relations strong enough to weather this? It wouldn’t be merely our letdown but Europe’s as well, since Brussels is very likely to face stormy relations with Ankara under such circumstances.
So what should we do? Should Turkey abandon its objectives? Should we cease our reforms? Of course not. Our path towards full EU membership is riddled with many problems; in other words, this is an arena of constant struggle both at home and on the international stage. We must press on.
Meanwhile, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, as our friend, might do us a favor in his EU presidency handover ceremony at the New Year. He can launch an initiative to make an intermediate decision closing Turkey in on full membership. Ambassador Nihat Akyol, one of our top experts on EU affairs, believes that this is possible. ‘The Cyprus issue is being seen as an obstacle to us,’ he told me. ‘However, an intermediate decision might be added to the EU’s strategy paper, pledging that the EU will set a date for the start of our membership talks if Ankara manages to take effective measures to help achieve a permanent settlement on the island.’ A new decision proving the EU’s ‘political will’ in order to counterbalance the current negative atmosphere stemming from its ‘political unwillingness.’ Why not?