BY TAHA AKYOL
MILLIYET- Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan this January in Davos. During the meeting, he asked Annan to start the peace process, which amounted to his accepting Annan’s plan as the basis for negotiations. Erdogan also agreed that Annan would fill in the blanks as stipulated during the four-power meetings in New York, and the timetable for referendums was accepted. However, the government was blasted for accepting the fill-in-the-blanks condition, with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer saying that this wasn’t among Ankara’s National Security Council (NSC) resolutions. Starting the process and giving Annan this authority of course meant running a risk. So was this a gamble on the government’s part?
In a word, no. Both the government and Foreign Ministry knew what Annan was being careful about. Ankara spoke with powers which could affect the UN, mainly Washington and the European Union. Likewise, changes in Annan’s plan turned out to favor Turkey more. At this point, Ankara calculated that the risk could be taken and decided to go with it. It did something good and in the referendums, Turkish Cypriots approved the UN plan while the Greeks rejected it. Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok stated that we had acquired a superior diplomatic standing. Even Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas said that new horizons had been opened. Cracks have started to appear in the TRNC embargo. The EU Council will open these cracks more, enabling the TRNC to breathe economically, and relations will be able to be established. When the UN Security Council softens its 1983 resolution barring recognition of the TRNC, it will relax even more.
If the steps which started in Davos hadn’t been made and risks hadn’t been taken, we wouldn’t be at this advantageous situation today. Which is the real nationalism? This one, which brought benefits and diplomatic superiority for Turkey and the TRNC, or the usual irrational ‘heroism’ that tried to block this path? There were disappointing aspects to Annan’s plan as well, and taking the road on purpose was a concession. Now Turkey has succeeded in winning ‘diplomatic superiority’ in Cyprus by taking both risks and limited concessions. The road hasn’t ended yet. We should continue our mobilization so as to score even great successes.