Northern Cyprus Is Test For EU, Says Turkey

by Odul Asik Ulker
NICOSIA, July 20 (AFP) - Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said Tuesday that the EU was facing a test of its ties with the breakaway Turkish statelet in Cyprus, as the divided island marked the 30th anniversary of Turkey`s invasion.
In a show of military strength, soldiers in tanks and armored vehicles held a military parade to commemorate the 1974 intervention as a Turkish military aerobatics team overflew the ceremony venue in the northern sector of Nicosia, Europe`s only remaining divided capital city.
"The European Union, and the whole world, should not forget that the promises they have made will be tested," Gul said at the ceremony.
He was referring to measures planned by the EU to ease the economic isolation of the self-styled Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which is recognized only by Ankara, following the strong support it gave to a failed UN plan to end the island`s division.
The plan, voted on both sides of the island in April, was killed off by a strong "no" vote in the internationally-recognized Greek Cypriot sector.
The failure ensured that the Greek Cypriots alone joined the EU on May 1.
Gul maintained that by rejecting the UN reunification scheme Greek Cypriots showed they were not ready for a new partnership with their Turkish neighbors.
Much to to the dismay of Greek Cypriots, the EU and United States have begun to draw up measures to break the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots, whose economy has been strangled by years of international sanctions and is trailing far behind that of the Greek Cypriots.
"We are closely watching the undertakings of the EU and we expect positive results," Gul said.
"Turkey will not abandon you and will continue to provide you with all kinds of political and economic support," he told the crowd.
Ankara has for years propped up the TRNC, which was proclaimed in 1983, nine years after the Turkish invasion split the island into a Turkish north and Greek south.
The Turkish army intervened in retaliation against an Athens-engineered Greek Cypriot military coup in Nicosia aimed at uniting Cyprus with Greece. The stated aim of the intervention was to protect the Turkish Cypriot minority.
Even though the coup was short-lived, Turkey has maintained some 30,000 troops in the north ever since, citing the lack of a permanent settlement.
Greek Cypriots mark the invasion as a "black anniversary."
However, their neighbors on the other side of the UN-manned buffer zone celebrate the intervention, which followed years of inter-communal strife, as a "peace operation" that saved them from Greek Cypriot violence.
"We are very happy today... Peace has prevailed in the island since 1974 and we expect the Greek Cypriots to understand this," said 42-year-old housewife Belgin Mustafa as she enthusiastically watched the parade.
Others maintained that the separation of the two communities was the best way to ensure peace in the Mediterranean island.
"Let`s live in peace -- the Greeks on the other side and we on our side here," said Mehmet Sengul, a 39-year-old security guard.