BY HASAN CEMAL
MILLIYET- During this January’s World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, I was discussing the Cyprus issue with Justice and Development (AKP) leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Abdullah Gul, who was then serving as a caretaker prime minister for Erdogan. Neither had good things to say about Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas. Following the AKP’s victory in the fall 2002 elections, Erdogan made striking statements about Cyprus. ‘We’ve followed hawkish policies up to now, but to no avail,’ he said during his visits to European capitals. ’We face the Cyprus issue everywhere. Burying our head in the sand like an ostrich is useless.’ During a television panel last February, Erdogan told me that there were certain obstacles to Cyprus’ EU membership and expressed discomfort that Mumtaz Soysal, who opposes the EU, was an official advisor to Denktas. Did Erdogan change when he became prime minister? For example, Soysal recently wrote that Erdogan had become reasonable on the Cyprus issue. If this is the situation, then there is something strange afoot. Now Erdogan is going through the same things experienced by former Premier Suleyman Demirel and the late Turgut Ozal.
Back in 1983 Ozal became prime minister when his Motherland Party (ANAP) won the elections. First he made a gesture to Greece by unilaterally ending the visa requirement. He was even hoping that he could quickly solve the Cyprus issue using his parliamentary majority, strong government and political decisiveness. However, for many years since the issue has resisted solution. One day Ozal complained about Denktas to his political advisors, saying, ‘He’s leading us around by the nose whenever he wants.’ Probably Ozal should have been angry not with Denktas, but with himself, because he was representing the nation’s will.
Then Demirel became prime minister and faced the Cyprus issue for himself. He tried to avoid being the spoilsport in Washington’s eyes. One day Demirel too complained about Denktas, using words similar to Ozal’s. A decade passed. Now is it Erdogan and Gul’s turn? Or is this a game of ‘who’s next’? Erdogan and Gul began determinedly, but have they thrown in the towel too soon? Can’t they see that failure to solve the Cyprus issue would cripple both themselves and the nation?