FINLAND: An intensive effort by Finland is under way to reach an accord with Cyprus on Turkish EU accession, writes Michael Jansen, in Nicosia
Cypriot foreign minister George Lillikas postponed this week's visit to Ireland to participate in an intensive effort by the Finnish presidency to reach an accord on Turkey's accession process ahead of the November 8th review of Ankara's compliance with EU requirements.
The Finns are desperately trying to put together a package acceptable to Nicosia and Ankara which would avert a "train wreck" between the EU and Turkey, halting its accession process.
Mr Lillikas could not say whether he will be going to Finland but revealed that the Finns are working very closely with Cyprus and the Turkish side on three issues. The first, involving the EU and Turkey, is the opening of Turkish ports and airports to Cypriot traffic in accordance with the protocol of September 21st, 2005. He observed that this protocol states that "if Turkey failed to implement its obligations the whole accession process of Turkey would be negatively affected." Furthermore, he asserted, the declaration also "said that Turkey must normalise relations with the Republic of Cyprus and recognise Cyprus."
He remarked, "Normalisation means a lot of things. Among others it means that Turkey should stop vetoing the accession of Cyprus to different international organisations or international mechanisms. It's not just protocol."
The second issue - to be settled between Cyprus and the EU - is the opening of the port of Famagusta under UN auspices to direct trade between the EU and the Turkish Cypriots. The third, involving Cyprus, the UN, and Turkey, concerns the handover to the UN of the Turkish-occupied abandoned town of Varosha so that its Greek Cypriot inhabitants can rebuild their homes and businesses and return.
Mr Lillikas pointed out that the Famagusta-Varosha proposal was put forward by Cyprus president Tassos Papadopoulos in 2005 and observed that Cyprus insists that the refugees must be allowed to return as part of the deal. The government will not accept any arrangement that would deny their human rights.
He also said that the discussions are essentially between the Finnish presidency, the republic of Cyprus and Turkey. "I don't see any issue on which the Turkish Cypriots have power or ability to exercise their own decision-making process.. Today, unfortunately, they are completely aligned with the policy of Ankara and we don't see any difference in reality and practice with the positions taken by the previous leadership" under Rauf Denktash who insisted on a two-state solution.
"We were expecting a completely different approach from the [ new] leadership of the Turkish Cypriot community. Their positions before they [ took office] were completely different from their positions today." The Turkish Cypriots now speak of "a partnership between two equal states" rather than the agreed bizonal, bicommunal federation. Greek Cypriots, he said, have taken this as a sign that Turkish Cypriots and Ankara no longer support federation.