BY ARDAN ZENTURK
STAR- At first glance, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Mehmet Ali Talat seems like a distant person, one who likes to keep himself apart from people. But he's actually a warm, communicative person. After his goodbyes to President Abdullah Gul and Mrs. Gul at the Presidential Palace, we found some time to talk earlier this week. Obviously, he's very happy that Gul paid his first visit abroad as president to the TRNC. But it seems that he's very tired, because a thorny problem stemming from Turkey's domestic debates turned into a protocol issue in Lefkosha. At first he tried to brush aside my question about why there were no representatives of the Turkish Cypriot Peace Forces at the reception. For Talat, it seems that this was mere coincidence. But when I insisted that there was never any military presence wherever Mrs. Gul goes, he felt he had to comment. Talat admitted that actually he has certain problems understanding Turkey, because a lot of issues which can be easily solved on the basis of democracy grow very big, and sometimes even become intractable. He added that in fact, there was no problem with the TRNC protocol, because everybody can wear whatever they want and that they consider a democratic right.
The Republican Turkish Party (CTP), which Talat hails from, is known as a left-wing party in the TRNC, and its sensitivity about secularism is as high as that of Turkey's own opposition Republican People's Party (CHP). But, it's interesting that the picture painted by Talat and the stance of Gul, who hailed from Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), are quite similar.
Now let's talk about strategy in the Eastern Mediterranean. I wouldn't like Gul's remarks at the TRNC Parliament to be forgotten or ignored amid the debates over headscarves and the Constitution. Gul said that obviously the East Mediterranean is gaining increasing strategic importance in terms of pipelines and sea transportation and that the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and other routes parallel to this are the fruits of our common potential along the West-East corridor. Gul added that Turkey's vision of cooperation for the future also includes a new state of partnership and Greece, following a comprehensive solution on Cyprus. Gul said that after the Cyprus issue is solved peacefully, Turkey, Greece and the island would be able to establish a triangle of peace, stability and welfare in the East Mediterranean.
With these remarks, Gul suggested that the Eastern Mediterranean has turned into a hugely important region, following the Gulf, in terms of the world's oil, natural gas and energy markets, and will be part of the European Union. Efforts are being made to turn the Cyprus issue from a Turkish-Greek problem to one in a key region for stability in Europe. This approach is important for showing the dimensions of Gul's concept of a president who has vision.
Let me share another important detail. The Turkish Cypriot acceptance of the Annan plan while the Greek Cypriots rejected it is actually the reason why Turkey could have relaxed about this issue for the last three years, even if only partially. Maybe Annan's proposal was shelved, but it never went away. Whatever happens on the Cyprus issue at the UN from now, this plan will be the starting point. In addition, one of the most important planks of the plan was establishing a political formation called the Turkish Cypriot state. In retaliation for Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopoulos' uncompromising policies, the Turkish side is preparing to turn the TRNC into the Turkish Cypriot state. Let's see what will happen next; I hope everything will work out.