MR HUGH Pope of the International Crisis Group makes several interesting observations under the intriguing heading ‘Pax Ottomana?’ in the November/December 2010 issue of Foreign Affairs magazine. However, the article also calls for some comments and corrections.
I had occasion, in a lecture back in 1991 at Humboldt University in Berlin as [Cypriot] ambassador to just–reunited Germany, to observe that what the world needs in the era of the United Nations is a peace based on the UN Charter – a ‘Pax Unitarum Nationum’, in preference to the ‘Pax Romana’ of the distant past or to the ‘Pax Britannica’ of the more recent past or to the ‘Pax Americana’ as some had been proposing.
Considering that, as Mr Pope observes, Turkey succeeded in being elected to a rotating seat of the UN Security Council 2009-2010 – and in fact President Gul chaired last September a summit-level debate on the Council’s effective role in maintaining international peace and security – it might be assumed that Turkey’s policies would be guided by UN Charter principles.
How this can be reconciled with its continued occupation by more than 40,000 troops of a large part of the territory of a UN – and, since 2004 an EU – member state is something that readers may wish to think about.
Mr Pope writes that “in 2003 the [AKP] party reversed traditional Turkish policy by agreeing to endorse the UN plan to reunify” Cyprus.
What he does not say, however, is that the plan incorporated in toto Ankara’s demands. It is easy to endorse a plan made in your own terms. Whether it was politically and economically viable or compatible with basic norms of international law is another matter. In any case, the result of the April 24, 2004 referendum rendered the Annan plan null and void.
Mr Pope makes an unfounded assertion in stating that “since joining the EU in 2004, Cyprus has pulled all available levers to block Turkey’s own accession to the Union.”
This is simply not so. If it were so, Turkey would not in December 2004 have been endorsed by the European Council as a candidate for membership since such a decision required unanimity and Cyprus could have exercised its veto.
Yet, the indisputable fact is that Turkey does not comply with its legal obligations to Cyprus and to the EU under the Ankara protocol, in addition to forcibly interfering with Cyprus’ rights in its exclusive economic zone of maritime jurisdiction under the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention.
Many of us welcomed Mr Davutoglu’s declared goal of the “settlement of disputes” that “directly or indirectly” concern Turkey and the “zero problem” policy towards Turkey’s neighbours.
Yet, other than paying lip service to supporting the process of the UN-sponsored intercommunal talks on Cyprus, Turkey – which, as everyone knows, calls the tune for the Turkish Cypriots – has on substance not conceded an inch so as to meaningfully contribute towards a solution within the agreed framework.
If it does, even at this late stage – the UN Secretary-General’s report of 24 November 2010 gives a clear signal that a crucial stage has been reached which requires decisive steps forward – and a solution is reached, Turkey will find the way wide open to its European accession as far as Cyprus (and Greece) are concerned.
Of course, as the perceptive 14-page special report on Turkey in the Economist on October 23, 2010 indicates, other considerations also have bearing on Turkey’s prospects of EU membership.
Mr Pope says, correctly, that “the AKP’s zero-problem policy has been largely beneficial and has gone a long way towards defining a new national role for Turkey” and toward “win-win outcomes.” If the Cyprus problem is solved through a viable compromise settlement with Turkey’s constructive contribution, Turkey will gain more than removing a major obstacle to its EU accession course.
A reunited and peaceful Cyprus, free of foreign troops, will be transformed into a bridge of peace instead of a bone of contention and will cooperate with Turkey as well as with Greece – within the EU or otherwise – through trade, tourism, finance and, quite possibly, through mutually beneficial water and energy projects.
This can be achieved through good neighbourly relations on the basis of the UN Charter principles and the acquis communautaire, not through occupation, domination and ‘Pax Ottomana’.
Andreas Jacovides is a former Ambassador of Cyprus to the United States, the United Nations and Germany Former Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Board Member, Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Georgetown University
