The Center in the Press
April 28, 2004
Turkish Cypriot politicians want island kept out of European Union
Northern Cyprus buoyed by EU normalization measures
By Iason Athanasiadis
Special to The Daily Star
NICOSIA: An international diplomatic row was brewing over Cyprus on Tuesday, as Turkish
Cypriot politicians suggested that Cyprus should be kept out of the European Union (EU) as a
top-ranking EU official announced that a European Commission office could be opened in the
occupied North.
Mehmet Ali Talat, prime minister of the internationally unrecognized Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus (TRNC), suggested that the EU should freeze Cyprus' membership in the EU
until an overall settlement is attained on the island.
"Freezing the implementation of the EU acquis in the northern part was clearly foreseen in case
of failure of a settlement," Talat wrote in a letter addressed to Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern,
the current president of the EU. "Since it was the southern section that rejected a settlement, it
is possible to freeze the acquis there too."
Greek Cypriots have come under fierce criticism by the EU for voting down a plan proposed by
the UN which aimed at reuniting the dividing island. Cypriot Foreign Minister George Iacovou
was snubbed by his European colleagues at a meeting in Luxembourg Monday, where it was
decided that $307 million earmarked for post-reunification aid will be funneled to the TRNC
anyway.
EU enlargement commissioner Guenter Verheugen said: "We absolutely must open a
representation in the north of the island," denying this equates to recognition of the TRNC.
The news was received with dismay by Greek Cypriots, who believe the TRNC will end up
reaping a significant amount of the benefits of the Annan Plan without having to give any land in
return. But Verheugen reassured Greek Cypriots that "cooperation with an authority which runs
a territory does not mean diplomatic recognition."
Greek Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos insisted in an interview with Greek daily
Eleutherotypia, that EU funds earmarked for Turkish Cypriots should be channeled through his
government and not the self-declared Northern Cypriot state.
"I want to give the money directly to the Turkish Cypriot citizens, even ahead of EU entry - not to
the Turkish Cypriot regime," he said.
"The EU can be very creative when it wants to be," said John Sitilides, director of the Western
Policy Center in Washington. "The office will be subject to neither the TRNC nor the Republic of
Cyprus and it will issue health certificates for TRNC produce."
The EU has hinted that it will allow the TRNC to export its citrus products in what is a largely
symbolic move, given the current glut of farm produce in EU markets.
"There's no question that the EU intends to not punish the Turkish Cypriots," a European Union
diplomat in Nicosia told The Daily Star. "They voted 'yes' and they deserve something for that.
Steps will be taken to ease the constraints on them."
The diplomat warned that the scope of what could be done "should not be exaggerated" and
that direct air-links and diplomatic recognition still depends on negotiations with the Turkish
Cypriots.
But he also hinted that Ankara might be let off the hook for its continuing, 30-year occupation of
Northern Cyprus, saying it will not have "an impact on Turkey getting a date for the start of
negotiations," at least in the short term.
"In terms of the Cyprus problem being an obstacle to Turkish accession, this doesn't seem to be
the case anymore," the diplomat said.
The Cypriot government is counting the days until Saturday, when it will accede to the EU and
have the right of veto over any legislation relating to Northern Cyprus. The 200,000 residents of
the Turkish-occupied part of the island have hoped for international recognition after they
overwhelmingly voted their agreement to the Annan Plan.
On Tuesday, Papadopoulos arrived in Greece for talks with the Greek government. His trip to
Athens comes at a time of simmering domestic criticism among the Greek Cypriot "yes" lobby
that Papadopoulos sabotaged a possible solution by isolating himself and not showing
willingness to negotiate.
"When you have Greek and Turkish forces sitting on an island with an artificial divide down the
middle, it's just unhealthy," said James Ker-Lindsay, the managing director of Civilitas Research,
a Nicosia-based policy institute.
"Would Europe really be prepared to stand up to Turkey and tell it that a deal's a deal and you
have to abide by it?" he asked, identifying a key worry among Greek Cypriots.
In downtown Nicosia, on the ninth floor of the Capital Plaza building, a picture of nationalist
politician Nikos Kleanthos - a sworn opponent of the Annan Plan - adorns the computer desktop
of Spyros Hatzinikolaou, a Greek Cypriot lawyer and pro-yes campaigner.
"I put his picture there so each day I remember the 'no' that was voted through," said
Hatzinikolaou. "I'll never forget it."
"Never forget," the slogan that defined the period that followed the 1974 Turkish invasion of
northern Cyprus, is being taken up - in a different context - by a new generation of pro-solution
campaigners who are tired of three decades of division.
"Domestically, we have to reassure people about the prospect of a federalist solution," said
Hatzinikolaou. "But the issue is whether (Papadopoulos) wants to solve the Cyprus issue or not,
so he'll either resign or he'll come under tremendous pressure to solve the issue."
The foreign diplomat interviewed by The Daily Star described Papadopoulos as "the biggest
obstacle" to a solution, adding that "he will have to have his mind changed."
"We have to change a 75 percent 'no' vote into a 'yes' majority without any changes in the plan,
which is something that Greek Cypriots don't understand," he said.
The 600,000 Greek Cypriot majority rejected the Annan Plan following a three week campaign
whose main themes were security guarantees and allegations that the government was blocking
foreign officials such as Alvaro de Soto from access to the media to sway the vote.
Papadopoulos made an emotional appeal on television for Greek Cypriots to reject the plan.