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Turkish Cypriot leaders drop objections to customs union
By Simon Bahceli

THREE Turkish Cypriot leaders said yesterday they would express no objection to Turkey signing an EU customs union agreement with the Republic of Cyprus – as long as Turkey accompanied the agreement with a statement that customs union did not constitute full political recognition of the Republic.

The first such statement came on Thursday night in a speech delivered by Turkish Cypriot ‘prime minister’ Mehmet Ali Talat at Istanbul’s Bilgi University, in which Talat said it was not necessary for Turkey to wait until October 3 to sign the customs union agreement with the Republic of Cyprus and the EU’s nine other new members. Signing the agreement is something Turkey must do if it is to start accession negotiations to join the 25-nation bloc later this year.

“I have no objection to Turkey signing as soon as possible,” Talat told his audience. He added, however, that signing the agreement did not constitute full political recognition of the Greek Cypriot-dominated Republic.

“This will not mean that Turkey recognises the Republic of Cyprus. But that does not render it meaningless. It is very meaningful, as it means the time period in which we have to solve the Cyprus problem becomes shorter, forcing us to work harder and take a more active approach,” he said.

Talat’s words were echoed by Turkish Cypriot ‘foreign minister’ Serdar Denktash, who said that there would be no objection from the north if Turkey went ahead in signing the customs union agreement, as long as Turkey made it clear it still recognised the breakaway state in the north.

“Turkey has the right to state that this would not mean political recognition,” he told the Cyprus Mail yesterday. “Provided they write this into the agreement, we would not object.”

Denktash was insistent that such comments did not fly in the face of a unanimous declaration by the Turkish Cypriot ‘parliament’ in December imploring Turkey not to recognise the Republic until a solution to the Cyprus problem had been secured. The declaration was made amid Turkish Cypriot fears that Turkey might bow to pressure from the EU to recognise the Cyprus Republic in return for a starting date for accession negotiations with the EU. In the event, Turkey did not offer recognition, but gave a firm commitment to sign an EU customs union agreement with the Republic before negotiations begin in October this year – something that will be widely viewed as the first step to full recognition of the Republic.

Denktash, however, rejected that view saying: “This has nothing to do with the recognition issue… [Turkish PM Tayyip] Erdogan is quite clear about this. Plus, he has support on this from Britain, Holland and Italy.”

Peace and Democracy Movement (BDH) leader Mustafa Akinci also told the Cyprus Mail yesterday there was little point Turkey’s waiting till October before signing the customs union agreement.

“Whether they sign now or in a few months time makes very little difference,” Akinci said.

Akinci, however, disagrees with Denktash that the custom union agreement cannot be entirely divorced from the issue of recognition.

“Indirectly it is recognition. Although it does not imply that Greek Cypriots will be opening an embassy in Ankara, Turkey will be extending its customs union to Cyprus and we will see ships trading goods between Limassol and Mersin [in southern Turkey],” he said.

He added that once the customs union agreement was signed it would be difficult for Turkey to insist indefinitely that it did not recognise the Republic.

Referring to the assembly’s December declaration calling on Turkey not to recognise the Republic, Akinci said: “The agreement we reached…was that if Turkey established relations on every level with the Republic of Cyprus, the Turkish Cypriots would be left in a very awkward position.”

He added that one of the main Turkish Cypriot objections to Turkey’s recognition of the Republic was that it was being run effectively as a Greek Cypriot state.

“The Republic of Cyprus only represents one of the communities on the island,” he said.
But Akinci believes the customs union agreement and the normalisation of relations between Turkey and Cyprus are things Turkey will ultimately be compelled to accept.
“Turkey can’t resist the customs union, just as it couldn’t resist complying with the Loizidou ruling.”



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