• The EU Commission feels committed to facilitate the Turkish accession negotiations and wants to avoid, by any means, the suspension of the talks. However, the Commission has been unable to fulfill its promise for direct trade with the Turkish Cypriots, while at the same time it is losing its credibility with Turkey, due to a number of statements by EU politicians against the prospect of Turkey’s accession to the Union. These statements are all short-term and politically motivated. Several politicians are trying to take advantage of an obvious malaise and signs of fatigue in the old EU member countries as a result of the continuous enlargement of the Union. No doubt currently a very large proportion of the voters would want to stop any further enlargement. The irony of the matter lies in the fact that this attitude is contrary to the facts since it is clearly proven that every wave of enlargement has been to the benefit of the Union as a whole. The recent passing of the bill on the Armenian question by the French Assembly is further complicating the situation. Under these circumstances, Olli Rehn’s denouncement of all those European leaders who want to keep Turkey out of the Union was fully justified.
• Turkey signed the Ankara Protocol but unfortunately now is refusing to honor it. Wrongly, it relates a legal obligation toward the EU with its dissatisfaction for the so-called isolation of the Turkish Cypriots after the rejection of the Annan plan. Turkey knows that the two issues never should have been mixed and the prospect of EU membership is in its favor. Despite all that, for internal political reasons, Ankara is insisting on maintaining the deadlock.
• Cyprus rightly insists on the need to see the implementation of the Ankara Protocol, but at the same time is fully aware of the fact that if Turkey’s accession talks are suspended the cost to Cyprus will be very high. The status quo will be strengthened and any prospects of a compromised solution will disappear. Furthermore, possibly, it may create difficulties in its relations with its EU partners.
• Greece will equally lose much from a suspension since this would signal an end to the efforts of Greek-Turkish rapprochement, which has gained ground in the last two years mainly as a result of the large Greek investments in the Turkish market. Tension could be expected to rise in the Aegean and the fragile state of affairs of the Greek economy would suffer as a result of the need to increase the military budgets.
  

The fact that nobody could benefit from the current impasse clearly justifies the frantic efforts by the current EU president, Finland, to find a compromise solution. True to the traditions of the EU that problems are not resolved by conflicts but by sometimes-painful compromises, Finland is doing everything possible in this direction. The efforts are still continuing and at this moment we cannot know what the result will be.

Irony and hope

The irony of the whole situation is that this problem never should have been there. In my opinion, Turkey never should have closed its ports and airports to Cyprus because this action:

• is not in any way helping Turkey’s image and situation in the world, and
• is not making the Cyprus government’s position more difficult.

On the contrary it is strengthening the image of Turkey as the intransigent partner which wants to impose solutions on its own. 

Cyprus, I believe, is right to complain and protest this unfriendly act by Turkey, but overall I believe that it was not in our interest to have raised it to such a level. If today Turkey was to abandon its intransigence and completely unjustified position and declare all its ports open, its act would be greatly appreciated by the EU and the whole world, everybody would congratulate Turkey and forget the essential, i.e. that Turkey continues to occupy 37 percent of Cyprus, a situation that will not change at all even if all ports and airports are open.

Hope dies last, they say. This is why we hope that, even at the last moment, all interested parties will appreciate the disastrous effects of a breakdown of negotiations and suspension of talks and will find the courage and power to reach a compromise. Finland is doing is utmost and let us all hope that Turkey, realizing that a compromise is indispensable, will decide to cooperate with the EU and thus a solution, acceptable to all parties, will arise.

By Dr George Vassiliou
Dr George Vassiliou is former president of the Republic of Cyprus (1988-1993).