COMING less than two weeks after a three-day visit to the north of the island by the Turkish military Chief of Staff Yasar Buyukanit, the arrival in Cyprus yesterday of the Commander of the Turkish Army Ilker Basbug has raised questions about the Turkish military’s view of a recent thaw in relations between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities.
“My guess is that the Turkey means business and is actually interested in solving the Cyprus problem,” international relations expert at the Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) Ahmet Sozen told the Cyprus Mail yesterday. The spate of visits by Turkish generals to the island, he said, showed that “behind the scenes” discussions between the Turkish Cypriot leadership, the Turkish foreign ministry and the military were taking place, clearly as a result of the positive start to peace talks the leaders of the two Cypriot communities.
Sozen’s words run counter to those who see a clash looming between Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, an avid supporter of a federal solution to the Cyprus problem, and the Turkish generals, who many see as unwilling to relinquish their military hold on the north of the island.
But there were no signs of a clash yesterday when Talat and Basbug met at the Turkish Cypriot leader’s residence in northern Nicosia. Instead, both men were keen to emphasise the role the Turkish military had played in maintaining peace on Cyprus since it invaded the northern third of the island in 1974. And perhaps even more pleasing to the army was Talat’s keenness to stress the role that the military, along with “all involved parties”, would be playing in the search for a “fair and lasting solution” to the Cyprus problem.
Recognising that Talat would be seeking consensus between different sections of the Turkish political, bureaucratic and military scene, Sozen said he believed there was – fortunately for the Turkish Cypriot leadership – “harmony” between Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and foreign ministry “bureaucrats and technocrats”. The military, too, he said, “might for once not oppose the AK party government, because of its support of the army’s incursion into northern Iraq”.
“Those in the foreign ministry who oppose EU membership, democratisation and a solution to the Cyprus problem do not currently have the upper hand,” the academic said, adding his belief that the Turkish government would in the coming months be “going all out to push through democratic reforms” in an effort to give new momentum to the country’s EU accession hopes. Such a programme, he said, could include conciliatory moves on Cyprus.
“I would not consider it an impossibility that Turkey might remove some troops from the island,” he said.
Basbug, however, was playing down the significance of his visit yesterday, saying that he was on the island for an annual inspection of the troops and to meet with local commanders to devise strategy for the coming year.
But President Demetris Christofias said the visit could only be viewed as provocative.
“This is something the United Nations and the International community are well aware of, and they do not feel happy when leaders of the Turkish Military Forces visit the occupied areas in order to inspect the troops, especially at a time when a positive effort has begun,” Christofias said.
The presence of the general, who is widely tipped to become Turkey’s next Chief of Staff in the coming year, also caused reaction in the north’s media. Pro-reunification daily Afrika described Basbug as “a hawk who is not one to make concessions on Cyprus” and commented that it “would be better if these visits weren’t so regular when negations were so near to starting”.
The paper also asked why Talat’s spokesman had described as “dangerous” President Demetris Christofias’ attempt to differentiate between Talat’s and the Turkish military’s views on the Cyprus problem, saying: “If the army believes Talat is doing things with Christofias behind its back, will it then get rid of Talat? Is that the danger?”
