STAR- Columnist Zeynep Gurcanli comments on the latest developments on the Cyprus issue. A summary of her column is as follows:
Recently increasing diplomatic traffic among Ankara, Athens and Lefkosha has displayed that the key issue for Turkey’s EU membership bid would be the problem of Cyprus. The United Nations, Britain and the United States are trying to launch every possible initiative in order to reach a permanent settlement as soon as possible. However, the parties to the decades-old conflict haven’t been able to make any substantial progress yet. Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas, Greek Cypriot leader Glafcos Clerides and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan are expected to meet on Sept. 6 in Paris to review faltering peace talks. Diplomatic circles first claimed that Annan was planning to present an unofficial proposal to both parties at the Paris meeting, a document which would present a series of suggestions for permanent solution. According to the information leaked, this document will propose a solution based on a confederal state similar to Belgium, which is composed of two ethnic elements, Valons and Flamans. However, Ankara immediately reacted to these rumors: ‘The UN is just an observer and we will never welcome any foreign intervention in the issue.’ Consequently, Annan changed his mind and decided not to present such a document. Paris meeting will, in fact, be one of the last opportunities for the Cyprus issue. Everybody expects that the EU will give the green light to the Greek Cypriots’ EU membership bid at the EU leaders’ meeting to be held in October. Despite EU Commissioner Gunter Verhuegen’s recent statement arguing that Turkey shouldn’t expect the EU to set a date for the beginning of its accession negotiations at December’s Copenhagen Summit, I believe that the Union has already begun looking for possible ways to please both Turkey and Greece. This might be evaluated as another diplomatic move, which is likely to culminate in EU’s announcement ob a date for Turkey accession talks. Meanwhile, Denktas recently visited Ankara and met with Turkish Foreign Minister Sukru Sina Gurel and State Minister for Cyprus Tayyibe Gulek. According to diplomatic sources, Denktas has developed an alternative plan to be pursued if the EU accepts Greek Cypriots’ membership without a permanent solution. This plan proposes that the TRNC should integrate its Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defense and Finance with Turkey. The bargain over Cyprus has recently begun and it doesn’t seem to end until the end of December.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION