BY ISMET BERKAN
RADIKAL- Columnist Ismet Berkan writes on the Cyprus issue. A summary of his column is as follows:
How would our newspapers and TV stations have covered Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent Cyprus visit if it hadn’t been overshadowed by Saturday’s terrorist attacks?
I wonder whether certain dailies would have argued that Erdogan was shifting his position on the Cyprus issue? Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas was highly pleased with some of the words Erdogan used during his visit to the island. However, his comments also found some favor with the opposition parties. Anyway... Erdogan made similar statements both on the island and during yesterday’s AKP group meeting: ‘Cyprus is our national issue. The European Union is our national goal. We must find a way to reconcile these two issues.’ However, if we examine the current atmosphere, we see that these two questions seem to be on a collision course.
Last Friday, Denktas spoke with a number of journalists on CNN Turk. First a story was shown summarizing why the Turkish side opposes the Annan plan, after which Denktas was asked whether he’d like to add anything. ‘Just a couple of sentences,’ he replied. However, it seemed to me that if no one stopped him, he could have spoken straight through to morning. The Turkish Cypriot side doesn’t seem to be ready to approve any solution under the Annan plan. There’s no point in discussing this plan with Denktas since his opposition to it is clear and outspoken. Both Denktas and his supporters in Turkey are rightfully complaining about the steady international pressure warning that time is running out. ‘Under these circumstances, diplomatic negotiations never work,’ they argue. Very well then, but aren’t these people responsible for this no-solution impasse? Aren’t these people responsible for failing to resolve this problem in 1978 and missing many opportunities since to reach a permanent solution? Is it fair to have the Turkish nation foot the bill for all this? Why do the Turkish people have to make concessions from their own goals for the sake of protecting our rights on Cyprus? To over half of our 70 million population, the Cyprus Peace Operation is ancient history, something which happened before they were even born. These young people know Denktas as a politician always negotiating with some Greek official or another. I can understand why our prime minister is so concerned. Turkey is facing many problems since the handling of these two issues, Cyprus and the EU, has been linked together. But why don’t we think this way? No matter what happens on our path towards the EU, we must resolve the Cyprus issue as soon as possible.