BY SAMI KOHEN
MILLIYET- Columnist Sami Kohen comments on the Greek Cypriot administration’s entrance into the European Union and Turkey’s stance on this development. A summary of his column is as follows:
Yesterday I saw a TV channel saying that the European Union was accepting 10 countries today but that Turkey was still waiting. Perhaps the people watching the magnificent ceremony in Athens had mixed feelings. Some people saw the Greek Cypriot administration’s membership with envy, and others with anger. Some were sad not to see the Turkish prime minister standing alongside more than 40 world leaders in the ceremony, and others were pleased.
We were in the first category. Yesterday I wish I could have seen Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas standing next to Greek Cypriot administration leader Tassos Papadopulos, and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan or Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul behind them. If the negotiations had borne fruit, such a picture would have been possible. Moreover, if Ankara hadn’t acted so confused about the great show in Athens, which symbolized a swelling of the EU ranks, and had instead made a proper decision, we would have been able to see the Turkish prime minister or foreign minister among their EU counterparts. However, whatever the reasons, Ankara chose not to attend the ceremony in order to signal that it doesn’t recognize Southern Cyprus, forgetting that it will unavoidably have to deal with ‘Cyprus’ among the EU ranks as of May 2004.
The government is acting so unrealistically, and what is the opposition doing? Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal is angry with Southern Cyprus’ entrance into the EU, blasting, ‘The EU and the rest of the world should cease their injustices towards the TRNC and should instead recognize it immediately.’ How can a party leader who was once a foreign minister have such naïve expectations? Is this realistic? The UN Security Council’s resolution accusing the Turkish side of intransigence and accepting Greek Cyprus’ EU accession should really trigger more hard-headed analysis and searches for new strategies in Ankara.
As I wrote yesterday, Turkish diplomacy is at crossroads: it will either seek a solution using the existing paths of negotiation and consensus or else it will choose the continuation of the current status quo. Of course this question is related to the EU. However, beyond the EU issue, it is a matter of providing the Turkish Cypriots with better standards of living and integration with the world community. Denktas -- who criticized even Gul’s participation at the dinner, let alone the signing ceremony -- said, ‘Perhaps other calculations were made when this decision was made.’ But it’s natural for Turkey, which has never withheld any support for the TRNC, to make calculations according to its own national interests.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION