Please refer to the below opinion of Barcin Yinanc, a good friend of mine, as it will give the blind Greek Cypriots an insight of how the EU Com' is viewing the Cyprus problem and how the GC ports failed strategy to force Turkey into opening its ports unconditionally to the GC Controlled ROC will ultimately smack them in the face. Sorry guys but your ports move may well eventually go against when the BIG boys next meet. I have told the GCs of this forum many times over to stop dreaming and to understand Turkey's importance to the EU in the year 2009 and then on. But, obviously, most GCs are still living in the past with their attachment to "penniless and corrupt" Greece/Hellenic stance and so called "Cypriot" future state. We are TURKISH Cypriots and you are GREEK Cypriots. We are NOT just "CYPRIOTS", that clearly does not exist,and never Will. I look forward to seeing Ercan airport open for international traffic in the near future, Don't you?
P.s - Please keep you illusions GC comments civilised, if you can!
OPINION in Hurriyet newspaper.
BARÇIN Y?NANÇ
A group of distinguished Europeans that came together with the support of the Open Society Foundation have recently released their report on Turkish-European Union relations. The report penned by the group, which comprises former politicians headed by Nobel peace award winner Martti Ahtisaari, also focuses in detail on the Cyprus problem, which has become inseparable from Turkey’s accession process.
The report urges the two sides on the island to arrive at a settlement in order to remove obstacles to the accession negotiations between Turkey and the EU. It puts forward concrete proposals to give impetus to the talks that so far have made little progress. One of the proposals is to hold frequent high-level visits to the island to encourage both sides for a solution. Interestingly, the group of wise men did not envisage the idea of going to the island themselves until their meeting with Ollie Rehn, European commissioner for enlargement.
Rehn will soon finalize the progress report on Turkey’s accession negotiations, which is expected to be released by mid-October. One of the most critical parts of the report will be on Cyprus. The deadline given to Turkey by the EU to open its ports to shipping from Greek Cyprus ends this year.
It is a known fact that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an has decided not to open the ports unless the EU fulfills its promises to lessen the isolation of Turkish Cyprus. Hence a unilateral decision by Turkey on the issue of ports is out of the question. It will also take a miracle to see a permanent solution to the divided island looming on the horizon by mid-October.
Rehn will have to therefore take note of the situation and register it as a fact that Turkey has not fulfilled its commitments vis a vis Greek Cyprus. He will most probably forget to mention that the Commission likewise has failed to fulfill its promises to Turkish Cyprus.
At any rate, the EU leaders will decide during their December summit on their course of action. No one in Turkey seems to take seriously the possibility of new sanctions. Talks on at least a dozen chapters are already suspended because of Greek Cyprus and France. Negotiations on the rest of the chapters cannot start mainly because Turkey is not ready. It will be difficult for the EU to suspend additional chapters. The EU has therefore limited leverage over Turkey. Some claim, however, that the EU cannot stay idle in the situation. The Greek Cypriot government already said in a statement released last week that Turkey’s accession course “cannot continue unimpeded without sanctions” if it does not “honor its pledge to open its ports and airports to Cypriot traffic.”
There are rumors that the EU can implement some sanctions on bilateral trade. Such an act would definitely further hamper Turkish-EU relations, which are already in a standstill.
In order to avoid further deterioration of relations, the European Commission seems to be working for a way out. If fact, they are trying to revive a proposal that came to the agenda in the past. The deal based on opening ports to Greek shipping in exchange for opening the Ercan airport in Turkish Cyprus to international air traffic coupled with direct trade with Turkish Cyprus has failed in the past.
The reasoning behind the Greek Cypriots who objected to the deal in the past has not changed today. The chances for a midterm solution also seem to be dim.
Yet it would be naïve on their part to fall into the delusion that Turkey will open its ports to Greek shipping in fear of potential EU sanctions. They are mistaken in thinking that they can use the EU’s leverage in order to obtain a solution on the island that will suit best their interests. Everyone knows that unless a tangible solution looms on the horizon, Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat will be replaced by a more hawkish figure in next year’s elections.
If they continue like that, Greek Cypriots risk ending up with the most undesired solution for them: a solution based on two states.
