THE European Union has issued warnings to the Turkish Cypriot side not to provoke the Cyprus Republic into vetoing the start of Turkey’s accession negotiations, Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat said yesterday.
Turkey, whose application to join the EU dates back to 1963, is desperate to get a date for the start of accession negotiations at the EU summit on December 17.
Speaking on a local radio programme in the north yesterday, Talat said: “I was warned by the Dutch presidency of the EU not to protest too loudly about direct trade in order not to upset the Greek Cypriots in a way that could endanger Turkey’s getting a date, or give other EU members a means for blocking Turkey.”
Talat’s comments came in the wake of his declaration at the weekend that he was ready and willing to enter into new negotiations on a Cyprus settlement.
He rejected accusations that Turkey had intervened in Turkish Cypriot policy-making by saying: “It’s not Turkey. Turkey has made no demands on us. The demands come from Europe, the international community, the superpowers.”
“No one wants us to do anything at the moment. Americans, English… (UN Undersecretary-general Kieran) Prendergast himself said, ‘please, don’t let there be any slip-ups; don’t rock the boat; don’t let anything happen that could jeopardise Turkey’s getting a date for the start of accession negotiations,” Talat said
“The UN Secretary-general says the same. The EU says the same. England, France, Germany, the Dutch EU Presidency, they all say the same: ‘Don’t upset the Greek Cypriots’.”
Talat said it was the tacit agreement of EU member states not to force the issue of direct trade with the north in order to keep the Greek Cypriots from vetoing Turkish accession.
He added that he had been angered by Greek Cypriot wishes that aid and trade agreements between the EU and the north be dealt with separately, believing that if they were, the trade part of the agreement would be shelved indefinitely, but had been warned not to press the issue.
“The Greek Cypriots sought split the aid and trade agreements with the EU by agreeing to the aid package separately. I was vehemently opposed to this, as splitting them means that the EU’s decision of April 26 to lift the Turkish Cypriots out of isolation will be, to a great extent, nullified. They [the international community] asked me if I want to see Turkey get a date. When I told them I did, they said, ‘In that case, this is the way it has to be’,” Talat said.
International pressure may also be behind Talat’s remarks yesterday that the Annan plan might not be the only solution to Cyprus’ decades-old division.
Departing somewhat from his previous stance that the plan was unalterable, Talat said: “It’s true the AP is on the shelf. If AKEL had taken a different approach and had joined DYSI in supporting the plan we might have had another referendum in the south before December, and the plan would have been implemented in its present form. The situation is now different: we need to have a new exchange of views, using the Annan plan as a reference point.”
