IN A BID to preserve their fragile concord, Nicosia and Athens decided to play it safe, steering clear of issues of difference, press reports said yesterday.
Although President Papadopoulos briefed Greek premier Konstandinos Karamanlis on the latest developments on Cyprus, the two leaders avoided addressing their stance in the event Turkey fails to comply with EU obligations by October, when the candidate country’s accession progress comes up for review.
Ankara refuses to open its ports to Cypriot traffic, as it does not recognise the Republic. It says that only once the economic isolation of the breakaway regime is lifted will it discuss this.
But while Nicosia would like to put the squeeze on Turkey, the Greek government – wary of damaging its improving relations with its neighbour – prefers a more lenient approach.
Local papers said yesterday that, contrary to perception, Papadopoulos and Karamanlis did not forge a common strategy vis a vis Turkey, choosing instead to postpone any decisions until the last moment.
Nevertheless, the two leaders did examine the possible scenarios ahead of October.
One possibility is for the progress review date to be pushed back, but that would require broad support inside the EU. Alternatively, the bloc could move to suspend Ankara’s accession course, but a number of EU countries are certain to oppose this.
Another option would be to refer Turkey’s refusal to fully implement the customs union protocol to an arbitration body. However, the Finnish presidency of the EU is worried this might encourage other countries to avoid complying with the acquis.
A way out of the conundrum would be Nicosia’s proposal for the Turkish Cypriots to be given a massive aid package from the EU, coupled with the opening and joint administration of Famagusta harbour.
According to Politis, during their lengthy deliberations on Monday, Papadopoulos and Karamanlis devoted relatively little time to discussing the Cyprus problem.
Papadopoulos is also said to have told his Greek counterpart he was skeptical about the chances of finding common ground for talks with the Turkish Cypriots.
On Saturday, the Greek and Turkish-Cypriot communities agreed to a UN formula presented by UN Undersecretary General Ibrahim Gambari, who outlined a five-point framework for resuming negotiations on two tracks – one focusing on day-to-day issues and the other on the intractable long-term political problems.
Papadopoulos and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat agreed to draw up a common list of items vital to the Cyprus problem by the end of July. Aided by experts, the two leaders’ chief advisors will work on the core issues, while in tandem the technical committees will be focusing on the so-called “soft issues.”
Talat and Papadopoulos will periodically meet to supervise the progress of these technical committees.
It is hoped that talks in earnest will get underway by autumn. However, the Papadopoulos administration is said to fear that Turkey might exploit this by showing itself willing to support a peace process while at the same continuing not to recognise Nicosia in any shape or manner.
In this light, commentators in the south say Papadopoulos is walking a tight rope and are not sure how far he’d want to take the new initiative.
Meanwhile Talat’s ‘presidential’ spokesman Hasan Ercakica said yesterday that the impasse in the Cyprus problem had been overcome.
Ercakica confirmed the July timeline, indicating that the communities’ leaders were on the same page, at least as far as the broad procedure was concerned.
Describing the agreement as “positive,” he said Talat was already conducting a series of contacts as prep work for the talks.
Prior to his return, Papadopoulos yesterday had held talks with Greek party leaders, including PASOK chairman and former Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou.
Upon arriving at the Larnaca airport yesterday, Papadopoulos described his meeting with Karamanlis as fruitful and very positive, though he avoided making any reference as to whether the two of them had agreed on any common strategy regarding Turkey’s accession course.
In response to a question as to whether the progress review date may be pushed back, Papadopoulos said that there has been no request for such a postponement and so the review on Turkey’s accession bid will be issued.
When asked to comment on a statement by Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul that the issue of withdrawing Turkish troops from Cyprus and returning Famagusta was not on the agenda, Papadopoulos said that the withdrawal of Turkish troops is “one of the core issues of the Cyprus problem” and that the issue of Famagusta has been linked with discussions on direct trade since the EU Luxembourg Presidency.
“Considering that Turkey has a specific accession course in order to join the EU, it would be completely inconceivable that a candidate country and later a member state should maintain troops in another member state without the will of its government and people,” he said.
Papadopoulos confirmed he would not meet US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza when he visits Cyprus on July 16 to 19. Bryza is expected to meet with Talat during the visit at the “presidential” in the north.
