Difficult Summit

CUMHURIYET- Columnist Ali Sirmen writes on the summit on Cyprus between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders. A summary of his column is as follows:
Denktas and Clerides are coming together to begin a series of summit meetings which are expected to go on for six months. The two leaders will meet three times a week during the next six months. In the course of the meetings, which will be conducted with no conditions attached, UN Special Envoy Alvaro de Soto will also be present. Even though Denktas claims that de Soto will be there only to take notes as an observer, everyone knows that the UN special envoy has some solution plans in his bag and intends to put them on the table at the first sign of a block in the meetings. The method of the meetings is interesting. During the talks 'given and take' implementation will be valid and if an agreement covering all issues is not reached, there will be no agreement to speak of. In other words, if there is no total agreement, the issues agreed upon cannot be presented in any other negotiation process. The start of negotiations where Denktas will take up the structure of the Cyprus state and the place of Turks within it is a positive development. However, it is also certain that it will be a very difficult summit which doesn't have a great chance of success. In fact a solution in Cyprus would be much easier than other disputes, such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. However, we cannot ignore the presence of two important influences, one from within and the other from abroad, which make an agreement difficult to reach. The declaration of the EU to the effect that it is ready to admit the Greek Cypriot administration into the Union as the sole representative of the island even if the question is not solved, and the recent pronunciation of this view by EU Enlargement Commissioner Verheugen, can only encourage the Greek Cypriot's insistence on an intransigent stance. The problem will come an end with the membership of the Greek Cypriot administration to the EU, whether the issue is solved or not. The EU's mistaken stance is the biggest foreign obstacle in the way of a solution. It makes one wonder whether Brussels wanted to close all doors to Turkey with this move or find a solution to the Cyrus problem. The obstacle for a solution coming from within comes from opposition in both sides. Some members of the opposition in Turkish Cyprus are pressuring Denktas to agree to any solution whatever the cost. The difficult economic situation of the TRNC and the 'motherland' add to the attraction of EU membership for the youth in the TRNC youth. EU membership and passports would mean the opening up of opportunities throughout the world for youths who have lived in a sense of isolation since their birth. It is impossible to explain to these young people that the economy in EU countries is not expanding but contracting. If the opposition party of the other side had urged their leader to an agreement, the position of the Turkish youth might have been a factor facilitating a solution. However, this opposition on the Greek Cypriot side is pressuring Clerides not to make any concessions as the EU is solving the problem in their favor. In short, as one side is insisting that the best solution for them is no solution, the other side is saying that no solution is not a solution. The difference in these positions shows that this will be a very difficult summit.

SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION