Turkish Cypriots cautious over Kosovo

TURKEY’S National Security Council is due to meet on Thursday to discuss the implications of Kosovo’s declaration of independence on the ‘TRNC’, Zaman reported yesterday.

Backed by the US and most EU countries, Kosovo unilaterally declared its independence from Serbia on Sunday. A number of EU countries, including Cyprus, are refusing to give it recognition.

Turkey, which has had a battalion stationed in Kosovo since 1999 after the NATO bombing of Serbia, is expected to be among the first group of countries to recognise Kosovo as an independent state. Turkey assumed the leadership of the Southern Task Force Command for a period of one year between May 2007 and May 2008 and currently has about 800 personnel deployed in the region.

In the north, newspapers yesterday wondered whether the ‘TRNC’, which is itself an unrecognised state except by Turkey, would recognise Kosovo, since the north had been among the first to recognise Macedonia and Azerbaijan.

One newspaper wrote that Democratic Party leader Serdar Denktash had accused Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat of not caring about Kosovo’s independence.

Talat did make statements on Kosovo yesterday, but was cautious about linking it to recognition of the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state in the north. Last week, he said they were entirely different situations.

With possible new Cyprus negotiations in the offing, Talat could not be seen to suggest that Kosovo’s recognition as a separate state be used as a precedent for the ‘TRNC’, as the Turkish Cypriot side has committed itself to a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation and repeatedly says it does not seek recognition as a separate entity.

Commenting yesterday on the developments in Kosovo, Talat said: “I salute the independence of Kosovo. No people can be forced to live under the rule of another. The will of the people of Kosovo should be respected and the new state should be assisted.”

Talat said he hoped the independence of Kosovo would have a positive impact in the Balkans. This was vital for world stability, he said.

He did hint that while the EU planned to back the Kosovo declaration of independence, he hoped the EU “would not repeat the mistakes which we still bear in the Cyprus question”.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.