THE GOVERNMENT yesterday called on Turkey to make up its mind about its European aspirations and its position on the Cyprus problem.
Government Spokesman Michalis Papapetrou was commenting ahead of yesterday’s meeting of the National Security Council in Ankara, Turkey’s key decision-making forum.
Papapetrou said: “The Turkish government should, if not now, very soon, take its final decisions with regard to its future course. Will it continue to insist on maintaining its occupation of part of Cyprus, something that will halt its course to Europe, or will it decide to relinquish its policy on Cyprus and work to serve its own European prospects?”
Papapetrou said he was convinced the problems on the Cyprus issue would persist unless the Turkish government changed policy and adopted a more pro-European attitude.
“Cyprus will join the European Union without a political settlement and efforts to reach a solution will continue,” the spokesman added.
Papapetrou’s position was backed by the findings of a Reuters poll on Tuesday that indicated Cyprus could sign up for European Union membership as early as January 2004, despite the island’s division, and that Turkey had only a remote chance of getting approval to join by the end of 2007.
The Reuters poll surveyed analysts from financial institutions and think-tanks around Europe. It found 27 out of 44 gave Cyprus a greater than 50 per cent probability of EU accession by January 2004. Only one of those polled believed Turkey would get approval by 2007, while the possibility for Cyprus’ accession to the EU by January 2005 saw the probability rise to 80 per cent.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
