Cyprus-Forum.com

[Kikapu]

The Associated PressPublished: April 16, 2008

UN political chief very optimistic about Cyprus reunification but still many difficulties ahead


UNITED NATIONS: The U.N. political chief said Tuesday he is very optimistic about prospects for reunifying Cyprus, but warned that there are many difficulties ahead and declined to give a timeframe.

"I think the entire world would be delighted to see Cyprus move forward on its negotiations," B. Lynn Pascoe, the U.N.'s undersecretary-general for political affairs, told reporters after briefing the Security Council on his three-day trip to the divided Mediterranean island earlier this month.

Asked whether 2008 would be the year for ending the 34-year-old division of Cyprus, Pascoe said, "I've always thought we have to give these things time to work, but I would very much like to see the Cyprus issue settled just as soon as it possibly can be."

Cyprus has been divided between a Greek Cypriot south and a Turkish-occupied north since 1974, when Turkey invaded after an abortive Athens-backed coup by supporters of union with Greece. In a 2004 referendum, a U.N. reunification plan was rejected by Greek Cypriot voters and accepted by Turkish Cypriots.

The election in February of communist-rooted Dimitris Christofias as Cypriot president rekindled efforts to end the country's division, and optimism grew following his meeting last month with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat.

The two leaders agreed to restart talks and they also agreed to open a crossing at Ledra Street, a popular pedestrian shopping street in Nicosia's medieval center.

"I was really optimistic after my discussion with both sides," Pascoe said. "I gave the council a fairly optimistic report today, all of us recognizing that there are many, many difficult issues out there that have to be resolved."

He said working groups on key issues have been set up and the U.N. is looking forward to the groups starting discussions next week, "so I hope the process is moving forward."

Responding to a question, Pascue said, "I believe Turkey is very much behind the settlement."

He also said that if the working groups start moving, "and if that process is positive, and we believe it will be," Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will consider appointing a personal envoy to help promote progress as the two sides get into more substantive discussions.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/04/ ... Cyprus.php

[Kikapu]

The Associated PressPublished: April 16, 2008

Cyprus reunification process to begin before direct negotiations between rival leaders


NICOSIA, Cyprus: Talks to reunify divided Cyprus will formally begin this week when both sides start preparing for direct negotiations between rival Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders in the summer, the United Nations said Wednesday.

A brief ceremony Friday will herald the start of talks between working groups of experts at the long-abandoned Nicosia Airport, which is inside the buffer zone separating the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north and the internationally recognized Greek Cypriot south.

Cyprus was split along ethnic lines in 1974, when Turkey invaded in response to a short-lived coup by supporters of uniting the island with Greece.

Many attempts since then to reunify the island have failed, including the last and most comprehensive bid in 2004, when Greek Cypriots rejected a U.N. reunification plan in a referendum. Turkish Cypriots accepted the plan in a separate vote.

The working groups will try to bridge the gaps between both sides on issues such as security, territory, crime and health. They will have until late June to make as much progress as possible before Cyprus' newly elected President Dimitris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat begin face-to-face negotiations.

Around 150 Greek Cypriot, Turkish Cypriot and U.N. officials will make up the 13 working groups that will meet daily at the airport, which is the U.N. mission's headquarters on the island.

Christofias was elected Feb. 24 in a poll seen as a rejection of his predecessor's hardline stance on reunification talks. Talat has said he believes a deal could be reached by the end of 2008.

Christofias, who heads the Communist-rooted AKEL party, had pledged to meet Talat within hours of winning the elections. A four-year stalemate was broken when Christofias and Talat agreed to restart talks.

The two share left-wing roots and have friendly relations, but disagree on whether to base future negotiations on the last U.N. draft settlement.

The island joined the European Union in 2004, but the bloc's benefits are enjoyed only by Greek Cypriots.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/04/ ... cation.php

[Kikapu]

ReutersPublished: April 16, 2008

U.N. says Cyprus to start peace talk preparations


NICOSIA: Greek and Turkish Cypriots will launch preparatory work for new Cyprus reunification talks on April 18, the United Nations mission on the divided island said on Wednesday.

Experts from both sides will hold their first ceremonial meeting on Friday, in the presence of the chief aides to Greek Cypriot Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot Mehmet Ali Talat, the leaders who are slated to start reunification talks by June.

"It is expected that these talks will pave the way for fully fledged negotiations in three' months time. They are meant to prepare the issues so they can be dealt with by the leaders on their level," said U.N. spokesman Jose Diaz.

Hopes of reuniting Cyprus, divided between Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities since Turkey invaded in 1974 in response to a brief Greek-inspired coup, have risen since Christofias was elected to the Cypriot presidency in February.

A stalemate on Cyprus, which has been represented in the European Union by its Greek Cypriot-led government since 2004, is harming the EU accession prospects of Turkey.

U.N.-led efforts to negotiate a settlement for the Mediterranean island have failed over three decades. Christofias has been more amenable to a deal than his predecessor and the Greek and Turkish Cypriots agreed last month to relaunch talks.

Thirteen teams from the island's Greek and Turkish Cypriot sides will cover preparatory groundwork ranging from governance to environmental protection work.

Working groups will look at complex Cypriot reunification issues such as power-sharing and linking the island's two economies, and technical committees at matters like environmental protection, cooperation on crime prevention and cultural issues.

(Reporting by Michele Kambas, editing by Keith Weir)

http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/200 ... -TALKS.php

[Kikapu]

[Kikapu]

Published: April 28 2008 03:00

The danger in dashing Turkey's European dream

By John Thornhill

Over the past 50 years, the European Union has been stunningly successful at exporting a precious commodity: stability. The promise of EU membership helped Spain and Portugal emerge from fascistic dictatorships. It has also eased the transition of many central and eastern European countries from Soviet-dominated command economies into thriving market demo-cracies. Why should the EU's magic potion not work on Turkey, a country that similarly yearns for stability and acceptance within Europe?

The opponents of Turkey's accession argue that the country is too big, too poor and too alien to join the EU. They say that with a population of 72m, per capita income well below the European average and a fiercely nationalistic political culture that veers between soft authoritarianism and Islamist-tinged populism, Turkey can never be a happy member of the European club. Turkey's latest bout of political instability only confirms its unsuitability. The attempt by the judicial authorities to close the governing Justice and Development party (AKP) and ban democratically elected politicians, including the president and prime minister, from office highlights Turkey's distance from the EU, they say.

France, which takes over the rotating presidency of the EU in July, formally opposes Turkey's full membership and holds out the prospect of a "privileged partnership" instead. In a pre-election book, President Nicolas Sarkozy wrote that Turkey's accession would "deal a fatal blow to the very notion of European identity".

Over the past few months, France has softened its tone. During its six-month EU presidency, it may open two or three more chapters in Turkey's accession process. There is even the remotest chance France could help broker a deal on the divided island of Cyprus, removing one of the biggest obstacles to Turkish accession. But Paris insists it will block the opening of five of the 35 chapters that presuppose full EU membership, including those concerning the euro, the budget and regional policy.

Seen from Turkey, the readiness of some EU members to rethink the accession process as it goes along is insulting. In 2005, all EU members backed the opening of accession talks. France's change of tack under Mr Sarkozy particularly rankles and has led to a backlash against French commercial interests in Turkey. In some respects, Turkey's revolutionary republic modelled itself on France: the Turks, like the French, believe in the strict separation of state and church (or mosque). "Turkey is a French wannabe country," says Mustafa Akyol, a writer.

Turkey's economic resurgence has been stimulating the EU economy. The country contributes to most other European institutions too. It even participates in Europe's football championship and Eurovision Song Contest. For years, Turkey has played a vital role in Nato. "By treaty, history, institutional engagement, security orientation and ideological ambition, Turkey is a European country," the International Crisis Group think-tank has argued.

That said, Turkey is still a country in evolution. Much can change - on both sides - over the next few years. Within the EU, Turkey is partly an unwitting victim of a debate about whether to broaden or deepen the organisation. Some federalists are convinced that Turkey's accession would kill their ambitions of deepening European integration. The debate about Turkey is often about far more than just Turkey.

Even if it fulfils all the EU's stringent accession criteria, Turkey could not join the EU before 2014 for budget reasons. By then, public opinion in the EU may have evolved and Mr Sarkozy may no longer be in office. It could even be that the Turkish people will themselves conclude that full EU membership involves an excessive dilution of their political sovereignty.

Since his re-election last year, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's prime minister, has failed to implement further reforms and is locked in arm-wrestling with the judiciary. Turkey has a long way to go to comply with EU democratic norms and protection of minorities, notably the Kurds. One European observer sums up the state of EU-Turkey relations thus: "We pretend to let you in, while you pretend to reform."

However great the uncertainty, it is clear that further convergence between the EU and Turkey benefits both sides. For the moment, it is better to travel hopefully together than to squabble about the final destination. To impede Turkey's accession process is therefore folly, turning the EU's magic potion into poison and threatening the instability it was created to prevent.

The writer is editor, FT Europe edition
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/91a12928-14ba ... ck_check=1

[Kikapu]

The Associated PressPublished: April 30, 2008

UN asks EU expertise on Cyprus reunification talks


NICOSIA, Cyprus: The United Nations is seeking European Union advice on Cyprus reunification talks, a U.N. spokesman said Wednesday.

Negotiations between Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat are scheduled to begin this summer. Thirteen working groups are trying to narrow the gaps between the two sides on various issues, including thorny subjects such as security and territory, before those talks begin.

"EU officials are exploring with the parties involved how they can best be helpful," said U.N. spokesman Jose Luis Diaz. One of the ways would be for them to assess whether the proposals of the working groups were compatible with EU law, he said.

EU spokeswoman Klimentini Diakomanoli said three EU officials have met with officials from the island's rival Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities.

Cyprus has been split along ethnic lines since 1974. The island joined the European Union in 2004, but the bloc's benefits are enjoyed only by Greek Cypriots.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/04/ ... cation.php

"The United Nations is seeking European Union advice on Cyprus reunification talks, a U.N. spokesman said".

"One of the ways would be for them to assess whether the proposals of the working groups were compatible with EU law".

[Kikapu]

The Washington Times
April 24, 2008

Amendment aims to open EU path

By Andrew Borowiec

NICOSIA, Cyprus — Amidst an increasingly acerbic political debate, the Turkish parliament has amended parts of a penal code in an attempt to ease the path to negotiations for EU membership.

Diplomatic sources said the proposed text attempts to appease the nationalist opposition but falls short of satisfying those who claim that Article 301 of the code, which imposes a penalty for "insulting Turkishness," violates freedom of expression.

The amended version eliminates the term "Turkishness" and reduces the penalty for "denigrating the Turkish nation" from three to two years in prison. Dozens of journalists and writers, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk, have been tried under the article, mainly for writing about the treatment of the Kurdish minority and of the World War I massacres of Armenians, which Turkey persistently denies. Criticism of the Turkish army also is considered to be a crime.

Critics of the proposed amendment say the governing Justice and Development party (AKP) has mainly "tinkered with the wording of the law" but kept most of its problematic features.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France, has asked that the article be repealed because "it judicially limits freedom of expression and validates legal and other attacks against journalists."

The Turkish opposition Nationalist Action Party has campaigned against any changes, saying the law is part of the heritage of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of the Turkish republic, who struggled to instill patriotic values and strong national identity in a country once known as "the sick man of Europe."

Cengiz Aktar, a political scientist at Istanbul's Bahcesehir University, said the way Article 301 has been amended is unlikely to impress the European Union.

Besides, he said, other articles in the penal code "kill freedom of speech."

Turkey's negotiations for EU membership have stumbled over several issues. The government insists it will continue reforms despite considerable opposition in Europe to admit a predominantly Muslim nation of more than 70 million.

On Monday, Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik joined other European officials who have suggested that a formula of association would be more practical than full Turkish membership.

"I could imagine a Turkish-European community as another rational, realistic alternative," she said while visiting Ankara. The idea was rejected by Turkey and mooted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan yesterday reiterated Turkish opposition to any formula other than full EU membership. "We view Turkey's accession to the EU as one of the most important peace projects of the 21st century," he said.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbc ... /home.html

"Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan yesterday reiterated Turkish opposition to any formula other than full EU membership. "We view Turkey's accession to the EU as one of the most important peace projects of the 21st century," he said."

[miltiades]

The criteria for measuring the strength of a nations' democratic principles must surely be the right of that nations' citizens to be critical of the state. Calling the army a bunch of interfering non elected military can be a criminal offence in Turkey today. Its a disgrace that in the 21st century a citizen can not voice an opinion without the fear of being arrested and prosecuted under an archaic and outdated law. If Turkey wants its citizens to become part of Europe and not be pushed into the dark ages then Turkey must adapt. Is she brave enough to embark on the route towards full democracy and full membership of the EU ?

[Viewpoint]

The criteria for measuring the strength of a nations' democratic principles must surely be the right of that nations' citizens to be critical of the state. Calling the army a bunch of interfering non elected military can be a criminal offence in Turkey today. Its a disgrace that in the 21st century a citizen can not voice an opinion without the fear of being arrested and prosecuted under an archaic and outdated law. If Turkey wants its citizens to become part of Europe and not be pushed into the dark ages then Turkey must adapt. Is she brave enough to embark on the route towards full democracy and full membership of the EU ?

There are smilar laws in both France and Austria, both countries are in the EU club, its a matter of double standards of the EU.

[Kifeas]

"Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan yesterday reiterated Turkish opposition to any formula other than full EU membership. "We view Turkey's accession to the EU as one of the most important peace projects of the 21st century," he said."

Yes Mr. "Babacan," I will tell you in a year's time what kind of a "full membership" you will get! It is called the full membership in the "given the boot" club!