Turkish Cypriot leadership takes a stand on trade talks
FAILURE OF the EU to implement a trade package for the north could lead to a breakdown in relations between the Turkish Cypriot community and the EU, Turkish Cypriot officials said yesterday.
“Its non-implementation will represent a turning point in EU-Turkish Cypriot relations,” Rasit Pertev, chief adviser to Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat told the Cyprus Mail yesterday, adding: “If the EU can’t implement this simple proposal, already-waning trust and belief in the EU will fade further”.
Clearly angered by what appeared to be fast-fading hopes of a breakthrough by the German presidency of the bloc in reaching a compromise deal that would allow for the package’s implementation, Pertev blasted EU officials by asking, “Is it right that some EU citizens are not allowed to sell even their tomatoes? Are we the untouchables of Europe?”
The trade package was first tabled by the EU Commission in June 2004, shortly after the Turkish Cypriot community’s approval of the UN’s Annan plan aimed at reuniting the island. At the time, the EU had been keen that the community was not “punished” for the Greek Cypriot side’s rejection of the plan.
Despite what appears to have been a concerted effort by the German presidency in arranging a compromise deal between the two sides on Cyprus, the package remains shelved.
“Germany has tried to find a compromise during bilateral meetings, but has so far failed to find one,” Ozdil Nami, one of the two Turkish Cypriot deputies who regularly appear in Brussels to argue the Turkish Cypriot authority’s case, told the Cyprus Mail.
Many see Germany’s attempt at implementation as the package’s last chance. Indeed, Nami believes that if, as expected, all efforts fail, the package will be withdrawn by the Commission, and may only reappear later in a much watered-down form.
Nami’s pessimism over the current package’s chances of ratification stem from Greek Cypriot insistence that direct trade between the EU and the north should never be allowed to take place because it would constitute tacit recognition of the breakaway state.
Nami said yesterday the Turkish Cypriot side had presented the German presidency with two demands.
“One is that the return of Varosha is not to be included as part of the package. The second is that we will reject any Greek Cypriot proposal that Turkish Cypriot export their produce through port in the south,” he said.
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