BY TUFAN TURENC
HURRIYET- Instead of cheering for a hollow victory, we should think of what still needs to be done. The Cyprus issue hasn’t been solved yet, there’s only an agreement to sit at the table now. What’s more, Turkey gave up on most of the conditions it stipulated before. We’ll have a very difficult negotiating process. The important thing is to stand firm against the Greek Cypriot administration and make them accept amendments which will guarantee the continuation of the Turkish presence on the island. We should discuss the negative elements of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s plan in terms of the security of the Turkish Cypriots and the Turkish people. We should make them accept our objections concerning sovereignty, guarantorship, ownership, the sharing of territory and the number of Greek Cypriots to be settled on the island. In addition, we should ensure the acceptance of the agreement reached as a basic part of the EU acquis communaitaire. In other words, we should reach a just and permanent solution protecting the Turks’ sovereignty and presence.
In addition, after the Cyprus problem is resolved, we shouldn’t imagine that everything will be all right and the EU will give us a date to begin negotiations. More obstacles lie ahead. Let’s be realistic and deal our cards in a way to fight these obstacles. We should boost our efforts to solve the problems with Greece without waiting for the EU’s insistence. The West will place some obstacles before us, so we should be ready for this. Otherwise all our efforts for EU membership might be in vain.