Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday that Turkey would do everything possible to help solve the Cyprus problem by May 1, but the government in Nicosia said time was running out.
Peace talks have been at a standstill for 10 months and time is short for negotiations on a complex United Nations blueprint before Cyprus joins the European Union on May 1, either united or divided.
“The Cyprus question must be solved by May 1. We will make the necessary steps in this regard,” Erdogan told a breakfast meeting of business leaders and politicians in Berlin.
“There must be goodwill on both sides, if that is not the case then the problems will not be able to be solved. We will certainly show our goodwill,” he said.
A resolution of the Cyprus problem is seen as a precondition for Turkey’s membership of the EU and would boost its chances of starting accession talks in early 2005 — prospects being watched closely by Turkey’s financial markets.
Cypriot Government Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides said Nicosia had taken note of Erdogan’s remarks but described them as yet another in a “series of statements”.
“There is nothing concrete on the table. We hope Turkish political attitudes will change for negotiations to start as soon as possible,” he said.
Erdogan made his comments after US President George Bush sent a letter to him and to Greek and Cypriot leaders urging them to resume talks immediately.
Erdogan has said he will discuss Cyprus when he meets Bush in Washington on January 28.
While Erdogan’s remarks underlined Turkey’s commitment to a Cyprus solution, Turkish media have reported that the powerful military fears the government may be giving too much ground in its efforts to reach a settlement.
Senior Turkish government officials and military top brass on Thursday reaffirmed their commitment to a deal, but deferred further action to a meeting of the powerful National Security Council on January 23.
Cypriot Foreign Minister George Iacovou said even if Turkey decided to engage on the basis of the UN plan from January 23, it still left little time for negotiations.
“This will restrict negotiation time to a couple of months — unless this is a tactical move by Turkey to push negotiations to the second half of the year and link it directly to progress on its own EU application,” Iacovou saidin Nicosia before Erdogan made his comments in Berlin.
Turkish Cypriot elections last month ended in a dead heat between parties supporting the UN plan and an outgoing government that rejected it.
The head of a party that backs the UN plan and is charged with forming a ‘government’ said yesterday that Ankara had pushed Turkish Cypriot politicians to quickly establish a coalition during their meetings with Turkish officials.
“We’ll do our utmost to form a government by Monday,” Mehmet Ali Talat told reporters after returning from Ankara.
Talat’s party is expected to join forces with a Turkish Cypriot party opposed to the peace plan and led by Serdar Denktash, son of veteran Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash.
