I Wanted To Give Mr. Denktas A Tearful Hug

I watched the ceremony in Athens in pain.
I would like to see there Rauf Denktas as well.
Thanks to the intervention staged by Turkey he had managed to save the Turkish Cypriot community just when it was about to perish. He had managed to put them on their feet. Now I wanted to share with him the pride that comes from knowing that he has also managed to elevate the Turkish Cypriot community to EU member status.
We would hug and cry, celebrating the way poverty would be left behind, the way the difficulties of living under an embargo would be left behind.
By biggest desire was to approach Mr. Denktas after he put down his signature for joining the EU, and to tell him, my voice quivering with excitement, "We have been together in this struggle for 35 years albeit from different positions. After all that effort, pain, martyrs...In the end you have won. Tell me what you feel."
What a pity that this dream has not materialized.
Turkish Cypriots could not dance in the streets. The young generation could not rejoice, seeing that their path has been cleared.
While Greek Cypriots sailed into the EU sea, their sails filled with wind, Turkish Cypriots are worried about their future. They are trying to figure out how they can get rid of the embargo. They are looking forward to the arrival of the money Ankara will promise to give but will never actually send.
Mr. Denktas gets angry whenever he sees me.
I, on the other hand, am still dreaming of the day I will be able to give him a tearful hug.
We can still get out of the Cyprus impasse
We are at this spot in Cyprus basically because of those who govern Turkey simply cannot make up their minds. When I say "those who govern Turkey" I mean the ruling party, the military, the presidential office and the media and the thinkers who influence the decision-making process from outside.
Along the path we altered our stance too many times and in the end we are faced with a veritable tangle.
We have pushed ourselves into a corner needlessly, enabling the Greek Cypriots to get what they want.
At first (1980-1990) we called for a federation. Then we changed our mind and put forth the confederation thesis.
We said, "If Greek Cypriots became an EU member on their own we would annex the North, accelerate the integration process." Yet we have not been able to do any such thing.
When the AK Party came to power we talked about the Belgian model and then we said, "The Swiss model too should be made use of."
During the first part of his tour of EU countries, Erdogan suggested a "solution package". In other words, he came up and suggested, "Let us accept the Annan Plan with some changes and, in turn, let the EU give us in May 2003 a date for the start of the accession talks." When that formula crashed into the U.S. - British - German - French front we abandoned it.
The AK Party first expressed support for the Annan Plan, saying, "Lack of a solution is not a solution" but when the front formed by the president and the military raised objections it performed an about-face.
The results are obvious.
Greek Cypriots got what they wanted.
The Turkish side has refused to attend the ceremony in Athens as a sign of protest. If these protests are to continue this will mean that Turkey will be isolating itself.
With that kind of logic Ankara will have to withdraw as well from all international organizations such as the UN, the Council of Europe and the ESDI. During the HABITAT conference and the ESDI summit Turkey had the Greek Cypriot flag to be displayed and accepted Clerides as a "president". Is it not a contradiction that now Turkey is not attending the EU summit?
We have two options:
1. Since the EU has admitted the Greek Cypriots as a full member we can conduct similar agreements with the North, bringing about an integration between Turkey and the North.
That alternative would make it impossible for Turkey to become integrated with the EU and we would be causing the international aspect of the Cyprus problem to grow even further. Gradually Turkey would be reduced to the same state as Saddam, creating more and more hardships for itself.
2. We can formulate a Cyprus policy without any delay and, calculating well how the damage can be repaired, we can reach a solution during the short time left.
If we cannot do any of these, if we continue on our path in the same undecided manner, if we get frightened by any newspaper headline and alter our stance, if we determine our stance according to the pressure coming from this or that institution, we will be blocking the path of this country which has a population of 70 million.
No one has the right to do that.

NOTE: This article appears in daily Posta and, on the same day, in daily Hurriyet's all foreign publications, on Hurriyet's internet site (www.hurriyetim.com.tr), on Milliyet's internet site (www.milliyet.com.tr) and, after being translated by the Turkish Daily News staff, in both that newspaper and on the Turkish Daily News internet site (www.turkishdailynews.com).