TURKEY wants next week’s Cyprus reunification talks in New York to succeed and has already shifted its position to achieve a compromise, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said yesterday.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen said after meeting Gul he believed the fresh talks indicated the Greek and Turkish sides had basically agreed on a settlement.
Gul said efforts were focused on securing reunification of the Turkish and Greek Cypriot sides of the island before Cyprus joins the European Union on May 1.
“It’s what we’ve been trying: to have a settlement before May. It’s why Turkey moved,” Gul told Reuters in an interview.
Asked if he believed Turkey had shifted enough to enable the reunification of the island, he said: “I think it’s obvious.”
Turkey stunned Greek Cypriots last month by agreeing to let UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan “fill in the blanks” to bridge any gaps left at the end of negotiations.
Annan has invited the leaders of the two communities on the island to New York on Tuesday for a crunch round of talks on his plan to end a 29-year-old conflict.
Gul said veteran Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, long seen as an obstacle to a settlement, was playing a constructive role.
“He (Denktash) contributed himself to the new position. He is supporting this process and he is ready to contribute even further,” Gul said.
Asked whether Denktash would be in New York for talks next week, Gul said: “Yes.” The Turkish Foreign Minister was speaking before Denktash announced his reluctant attendance at Tuesday’s talks.
The United Nations on Thursday proposed April 21 as the date for a referendum on both sides of the island on unification, and Gul said Turkey would accept this.
“We hope that in negotiations they agree on the plan and it goes to a referendum, because we prefer a referendum before May,” he said.
Gul said any settlement must ensure real peace.
“Here, of course, if we announce a settlement it should be a lasting peace. We should not have any problem after the announcement of the settlement. This would be a disaster for everyone,” he said.
He said Turkish co-operation on Cyprus should not be linked to Ankara’s wish to join the EU, which should be judged strictly on the bloc’s political freedom and human rights standards, but it would clearly help Europe.
“It’s obvious that settlement in Cyprus will create a new climate in Europe, but it’s not a condition for the negotiating process” for Turkey’s accession, he said.
The EU is to decide in December whether to set a date for accession talks with Turkey, if it meets all the economic and political criteria for membership.
