U.S. To Announce Measures For Turkish Cyprus Next Week

ANKARA - Turkish Daily News
The U.S. administration will start announcing a set of measures aimed at ending the international isolation of Turkish Cypriots starting from next week, U.S. officials are quoted as saying.
The measures include direct economic aid to Turkish Cyprus, steps to introduce direct U.S. flights to Turkish Cyprus and close diplomatic dialogue, according to Anatolia news agency.
Turkish Cypriots voted for a U.N. plan to reunite the island in an April 24 referendum, in hope of joining the European Union together with the internationally-recognized Greek Cypriot adminisration. But the plan was defeated due to Greek Cypriot rejection at the referendum, leaving Turkish Cypriots in the cold.
Meeting with U.S. officials in a landmark visit to Washington, Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat urged the United States to support efforts to end economic and political isolation of Turkish Cypriots, saying they should not be punished because of Greek Cypriot reversal.
U.S. officials held a meeting alongside Talat's visit to discuss measures to ease Turkish Cypriot sufferings. The meeting was attended by Assistant Secretary of State Elizabeth Jones, officials from the White House, Treasury and the U.S. Agency for International Aid (USAID) and proposed measures to be taken to help Turkish Cypriots, Anatolia said.
The U.S. aid plan will be put into force through a step-by-step process. This is because proposed measures require fulfillment of different legal and technical criteria. Especially on measures concerning financial aid, U.S. Congress approval will be needed.
According to U.S. officials, the administration is planning to channel $400-million in funds, originally earmarked to support reunification on the island, to Turkish Cyprus, although the reunification plan failed. Such an amount of aid will require Congress approval, while smaller packages can be directly endorsed by the administration.
The United States, biggest contributor to the IMF and the World Bank, is also expected to seek IMF and World Bank assistance for Turkish Cyprus. The IMF assistance might contain regulations for the banking sector and the World Bank may provide funding for certain development projects in Turkish Cyprus.
Weston: EU measures not enough
The EU, seeking ways to reward Turkish Cypriots for their "yes" vote in the April 24 referendum, has also pledged an aid package of 259 million euros and endorsed regulations that would allow passage of goods produced in Turkish Cyprus through the Green Line that divides Turkish and Greek sections of the island.
Tom Weston, U.S. State Department's special coordinator for Cyprus, said, however, the EU measures were not sufficent.
"The EU has taken important steps regarding Cyprus but these are not enough to end the isolation," Weston told the Voice of America.
The United States has said it would coordinate its efforts to help Turkish Cypriots with the EU. Weston said the U.S. steps would be consistent with those of the EU but emphasized there could be unilateral U.S. efforts as well.
Asked on when the measures are to be put into force, Weston declined to give an exact date but said: "We are talking about weeks here, not months. Politically our objective is to end isolation of Northern Cyprus."
Weston said U.S. flights to Northern Cyprus and direct financial aid were under consideration.

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