By Jean Christou
BRITAIN has promised to devote more time to efforts to solve the Cyprus problem, Prime Minister Tony Blair has said.
Speaking to a Cyprus News Agency (CNA) correspondent in London, Blair said anything Britain would do anything it could to bring about a solution.
“Britain has a particular responsibility in playing a role and this is something you will find us giving more time to over the next few years than perhaps we have been able to do during the few years previously,” he said.
Blair reiterated his government’s position that the political solution to the Cyprus question was not a precondition to EU accession.
He also said Britain had made it clear that it supported Turkey’s candidacy on the same basis that it supported any country’s candidacy.
“That means the same rules apply to Turkey as they apply to any other country,” he said.
“I also made it clear that the accession of Cyprus is not dependent of the success of negotiations for a settlement there. That stands on its own right. It is sensible balance.”
Blair said it was in the interests of the EU as a whole that in enlarging itself over the next few years “we open up towards Turkey on the basis of EU rules”.
“This is done on the basis of mutual respect and dignity, and I think this is the right way to do it,” he said.
Turkey is widely expected to be accepted as an EU candidate at the Helsinki summit in December.
But the possibility that Turkey might gain candidacy with the blessing of Greece has proved worrying for the Cyprus government and raised concerns over Athens’ current stance on the Cyprus issue.
According to yesterday’s Politis, President Clerides sent a letter to Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis two weeks ago expressing the government’s concerns and laying down a number of conditions that Cyprus would like linked to any Turkish EU candidacy.
Politis said the letter began by noting what a difficult position Greece would be in at the Helsinki summit.
The paper said Clerides referred to the current diplomatic efforts and recent failed shuttle talks designed to restart direct talks.
The letter was quoted as saying the government did not want these efforts to be seen as the progress necessary for Turkey to be admitted as an EU candidate.
Cyprus also wanted a declaration from the 15 EU members stating that the island’s accession would be unhindered and that the Cyprus problem should be “part of the road map for Turkey’s accession”, the paper said.
“For every step Turkey takes, there should be progress in the Cyprus problem,” the papers quotes from the letter.
