BY TAHA AKYOL
MILLIYET- The Cyprus issue is back in the spotlight. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that efforts towards a solution should restart under a framework similar to that of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s plan. Dutch Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende wants Annan to intervene in the issue again. US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher also referred to Annan’s plan and his arbitration. However, Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopoulos are opposing this idea. Papadopoulos has three conditions to restart the Cyprus talks:
* Annan shouldn’t be an arbiter to fill in the blanks during the talks
* Not small revisions, but sweeping changes should be made to Annan’s plan
* The Cyprus talks should be open-ended with no obligation to conclude them within a certain period of time.
We should look at these in evaluating the Cyprus issue. Why should the talks be open-ended, without a deadline? The reason is clear. After our EU membership talks start on Oct. 3, the Greek Cypriots will carry out their talks in parallel. They will want concessions from Turkey on the Cyprus issue, which is why they stipulate that large changes should be made to Annan’s plan. In this case, Turkey can put pressure on the Greek Cypriots by being allied with the US and EU leanings towards Annan’s plan and his working as a mediator, and by getting them to put pressure on the Greek Cypriots. In addition, the Greek Cypriots think that the US supports Turkey for strategic reasons. That’s why they oppose Annan’s arbitration. Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas also opposes Annan’s plan and his arbitration, of course due to entirely different reasons. However, his stance is weakening Turkey’s hand. If we follow Denktas, can we get the US and the EU to put pressure on the Greek Cypriots? If Denktas had signed onto Annan’s plan this March, both the Turkish side and Turkey would now have a stronger diplomatic hand. Now Denktas might be ignoring our foreign policy priorities and see us only as his supporter, but he should know that if Turkey is diplomatically weak this would weaken the Turkish Cypriots even more. Denktas should prove his fidelity towards Turkey not though rhetoric, but political action. Only then will both the TRNC and Turkey benefit.