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Erdogan intransigent EU obligations

By Menelaos Hadjicostis

TURKISH Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan arrived in the occupied north this week to deliver his well-worn message that Ankara would continue rejecting its EU obligations unless it clinches a political status boost for the illegal regime.

Erdogan arrived for a three-day visit to mark the 32nd anniversary of Ankara’s invasion, to insist that Ankara wouldn’t open its sea and airports to Cypriot traffic before the north’s purported isolation is lifted.

"Our main priority is the lifting of the unjust restrictions and isolation of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)... No one should expect concessions from us on this issue," said Erdogan.

"The world should end the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots so that we can fulfill our obligations."

Attending yesterday’s ‘celebratory’ parade in occupied Nicosia, Erdogan said Ankara backs UN reunification efforts but blamed the Cyprus government for the lack of progress.

"The Greek Cypriot side should finally change its negative stance," Erdogan told reporters before the start of the parade.

Impediment

He said much is being done between Turkey and the occupied north to show Ankara’s support for the illegal regime.

Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat echoed his political mentor, saying a politically and economically stronger illegal regime would constitute "a stronger base for a Cyprus settlement".

Despite agreeing to end the often bitter blame-game between the two sides, Talat implied Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos remained the biggest impediment to reunification.

"If Tassos Papadopoulos is ready to create a common partnership with the Turkish Cypriots, then we’re ready to come closer with good will," Talat told crowds gathered for the parade.

Talat said Turkish Cypriots have a right to govern themselves, but expressed hope UN Undersecretary General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari’s recent trip to the island would pave the way for a resumption of settlement talks based on the Annan plan.

Nicosia decried Erdogan’s visit as a "provocation".

President Tassos Papadopoulos dismissed Turkey’s bluster, insisting that Erdogan has to put his money where his mouth is if he is to prove his genuinely ready to reach a fair settlement.

Commitment



"The facts speak for themselves. The credibility and truthfulness of all these statements will be proven once consultations begin for the start of (reunification) negotiations," Papadopoulos told reporters following yesterday’s memorial service for Greek Cypriot war dead.

Papadopoulos wants to test Ankara’s commitment to a reunification deal before locking the Cyprus government into full-fledged reunification talks.

Turkey’s litmus test consists of two parts – first is technical committee talks to concurrently tackle day-to-day problems stemming from the island’s division, as well as core Cyprus issues.

These talks are designed to test Turkey’s willingness to show compromise, especially on the key issue of the return of occupied Famagusta to its lawful citizens.

Resisting

The second and more crucial part is getting Ankara to effect an EU-required opening of its sea and airports to Cypriot traffic.

Erdogan is resisting that as it would imply a normalization of Turkey’s relations with the Cyprus Republic prior to a full settlement at the expense of the north’s illegal regime.

Moreover, Erdogan needs to play tough ahead of looming elections and Cyprus has always lent itself to nationalistic posturing by Turkish politicians aimed to appease voters.

Thus, the Turkish PM is putting conditions on those obligations in a face-saving move intended to demonstrate that he’s not buckling under pressure.

Turkish flag lit up

THE illegal Turkish Cypriot regime decided to light up its huge flag etched on the side of the Pentadaktylos mountain range in the run up to commemorations for the 1974 Turkish invasion this week.

The regime’s ‘national emblem’ – in place on the mountainside since the mid-1980s – has been a sore point among Greek Cypriots who consider it as a Turkish Cypriot mockery.

The regime had previously lit up the flag by outlining it with powerful lights visible for many kilometers at night.

That sparked a huge outcry and the provocative light show ended, but the regime is back again with the same antics.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is to hold a three-day visit to the occupied north to attend invasion ‘celebrations’ and the lighted flag is perhaps a bid to impress him.

But the issue has taken on an added dimension this time round as it was the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) that bailed out the Turkish Cypriot regime that fell into an energy crisis earlier this year.

Turkish Cypriots had formally asked that the Authority supply electricity to the north that was plunged in darkness when its main power plant seized up.

The Authority supplied the north with power for several weeks and supply ended in late May after the Turkish Cypriots repaired their own plant.

An EAC spokesman told The Cyprus Weekly that, as of May 20, the Authority had ended its power supply arrangements with the illegal regime that fully paid a bill totaling Θ2.61m.

The spokesman said the third and final installment of the payments was made in the last few days.

Anti-west feelings grow in Turkey: Turkish FM

19/07/2006

Resentment of the west is growing in Turkey because of US support of Israel's offensive in Lebanon and hesitation over the country's accession to the European Union, the Turkish foreign minister said in an interview published here Thursday.

"Moderate liberal people (in Turkey) are becoming anti-American and anti-EU," Abdullah Gul told the Financial Times.

"If our young, educated, dynamic and economically active people become bitter, if their attitudes and feelings are changed, it is not good. Their feeling has changed towards these global policies and strategic issues. This is dangerous."

In a wide-ranging interview, Gul also highlighted the problem of mounting violence by Kurdish rebels from neighbouring northern Iraq.

He claimed that the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants were armed with explosives and weapons obtained from Iraq, including from the Iraqi army.

"This is very dangerous," the Turkish foreign minister said.

"We cannot tolerate this. Definitely we will use all our rights under international law.

"Of course we understand the Iraqi government's position, but if they are not able to control their land, they should not hesitate to cooperate with us.

"If they cannot stop it we will have to take action. That is clear."

Turning to Turkey's negotiations to join the European Union, Gul said progress was being made on the technical front, but obstacles remained over the unresolved issue of Cyprus.

Cyprus, which as an EU member state has the power to bloc a country's accession to the bloc, says Turkey must open its ports and airports to Cypriot ships and planes if it wants a trouble-free path.

But Gul said it would be impossible to do so unless the Cypriot authorities lift a veto on any direct trade with the Turkish enclave of northern Cyprus.

"We have been asked to lift our restrictions (on Cypriot ships) but all the isolation should continue on the Turkish side," Gul said.

"This is impossible. No elected government in Turkey can do this."

He warned that the Cyprus question was "always poisoning the issue".

At the same time, Gul added that his government was backing a UN bid to relaunch the peace process in Cyprus, the Financial Times said.

The island has been divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded and seized its northern third in response to an Athens-engineered coup seeking to unite the island with Greece.

Blair in cold as fellow EU leaders call for Israel ceasefire

Tony Blair - Downing Street photo
19/07/2006

British Prime Minister Tony Blair refused Wednesday to call on Israel to halt its onslaught on Lebanon, revealing a split with other European Union leaders.

Quizzed in parliament, Blair said he would not demand that Israel stop the bombardment of Lebanon before Hezbollah releases two kidnapped Israeli soldiers and halts its rocket attacks.

"This would stop now if the soldiers that were kidnapped wrongly when Hezbollah crossed the UN blue line were released," Blair told MPs.

"It would stop if the rockets stopped coming into Haifa deliberately to kill innocent civilians. If those two things happen ... I will be the first out there saying Israel should halt its operations."

Israel has demanded the release of two soldiers snatched by Hezbollah and a third taken by Palestinians, the implementation of UN Resolution 1559 and a halt to rocket attacks as preconditions for any diplomatic solution.

Blair's position was in contrast to those of German President Horst Koehler and his Italian counterpart Giorgio Napolitano, who called Wednesday for an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East.

Koehler said Israel had a right to self-defence, but added: "We are very concerned about the high number of civilian victims and the destruction of infrastructure."

Napolitano, in Berlin for his first official foreign visit since taking office in May, welcomed the proposal for a stronger UN force to be deployed in Lebanon and said it should include European soldiers.

"The UN should be able to rely on the European Union," he told reporters after meeting Koehler.

Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis echoed their sentiments, calling Wednesday for an "immediate ceasefire" in Lebanon with a view to a "rapid de-escalation of the crisis".

"The international community's reaction as expressed by the UN must be clear: an immediate ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional liberation of the kidnapped soldiers, the immediate disarmament of paramilitary organisations," he said in a televised speech.

A total of 310 people have been killed since Israel launched a deadly offensive across Lebanon last Wednesday in a bid to cripple Hezbollah after it captured two Israeli soldiers.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana called Wednesday for an immediate solution to the escalating violence.

In his second visit to the region in days, Solana called on "those who insist they may have influence to help to solve this problem," a possible allusion to Iran and Syria, which support Hezbollah, urging them to act "immediately".

But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said it was a mistake to "accuse particular countries and leaders" outside Israel and Lebanon over the crisis.

"If we start to think in terms of who is guilty as some other states do, directly accusing particular countries and leaders, this will only inflame passions still further," Lavrov told the Echo Moscow radio station in an apparent reference to US accusations of Syrian and Iranian involvement.

"We are trying a follow a different Russian tradition, to think about what we do," he said.

Czech Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek's government came out in favour of the rapid deployment of a UN peacekeeping force to end the crisis in Lebanon.

"The government will press for a rapid deployment of UN peacekeeping forces in the conflict zone," it said in a statement.

The government also recognised Israel's "right to self-defence" but called on the Jewish state to do all it could to limit danger to civilian lives and infrastructure.

Meanwhile French President Jacques Chirac called for "humanitarian corridors" in Lebanon to protect civilians from Israeli bombardment.

"Humanitarian corridors need to be set up inside Lebanon to allow the movement of people. ... They need to be able to do it with a certain level of security," Chirac said after a cabinet meeting.

"And corridors also (are needed) between Lebanon and the outside, in other words essentially for the moment between Lebanon and Cyprus," he said.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it had "serious questions" over Israel's conduct as civilians bore the brunt of the strikes on Lebanon.

"The high number of civilian casualties and the extent of damage to essential public infrastructure raise serious questions regarding respect for the principle of proportionality in the conduct of hostilities," ICRC director of operations Pierre Kraehenbuehl told journalists at the organisation's Geneva base.

Turkey must fulfill its EU obligations to Cyprus: US envoy

18/07/2006

A US envoy on Tuesday urged Turkey to honour its European Union obligations to its longtime foe Cyprus if Ankara hoped to achieve membership of the bloc.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Matthew Bryza said Washington was working with Cyprus, Turkey and the EU to come up with a "set of steps" so Ankara does comply.

"It's Turkey's choice, at the end of the day does it fulfill the obligation or does it choose not to. It's Turkey's obligation," Bryza told reporters in Nicosia.

"Turkey has undertaken an obligation to extend that additional protocol to the Republic of Cyprus period...We want to do all that we can... to assure that happens as soon and as quickly as possible."

Bryza brushed aside criticism that Washington was applying pressure on Nicosia not to stand in the way of Turkey joining the bloc.

"It's not that the United States is launching an effort, or we have a plan where we are leaning on anybody to take particular steps," Bryza said.

Cyprus, which as a EU member state has the power to bloc a country's accession to the bloc, says Turkey must open its ports and airports to Cypriot ships and planes if it wants a trouble-free path.

Bryza was winding up a four-day visit on the island as part of a regional tour. He met with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat on Tuesday.

Nicosia denied that it was a snub for Bryza to cross the Green Line to meet Talat at his presidential office which could be deemed as recognition for the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus only recognised by Turkey.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded and seized its northern third in response to an Athens-engineered coup seeking to unite the island with Greece.