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[boomerang]

Dirty games on Cyprus

Thursday, March 4, 2010
YUSUF KANLI

After the collapse of the Annan Plan, with a landslide “Oxi” or “No” vote in the Greek Cypriot side, despite an overwhelming “Yes” from the Turkish Cypriot public vote, the Mehmet Ali Talat-led socialist-conservative coalition government of the Republican Turks’ Party, or CTP, and the center-right Democratic Party, or DP, of Serdar Denktaş started suffering some serious historical incompatibility despite the strong friendship between Talat and Dentkaş Jr.

At the time, Talat was proudly declaring at every opportunity that he would keep his hand of peace stretched out until the day Greek Cypriots decide to grasp it while Denktaş Jr. was declaring that the 75 percent Greek Cypriot “No” vote was not just for the rejection of the Annan Plan but rather a firm declaration of absence of a popular will for a compromise deal to share independence and sovereignty of the island with Turkish Cypriots and that it was high time for Turkish Cypriots to draw up a new strategy. That is, while Talat was refusing to take steps to consolidate the Turkish Cypriot state as a separate independent entity and rather trying to garner international support to force Greek Cypriots return to the negotiations, Denktaş Jr. was declaring that Turkish Cypriots should consider “other options.”

A few months after Talat became president and he was succeeded as party leader and Prime Minister by Ferdi Sabit Soyer, all of a sudden, in collaboration with the Turkish Cypriot mufti Ahmet Yönlüer, the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, administration in Ankara poured in millions of dollars and bought two deputies of the main-opposition National Unity Party, or UBP, and two deputies of the DP of Denktaş Jr., the four established the Freedom and Reform Party, or ÖRP, CTP terminated its coalition protocol with the DP while Denktaş Jr. was on a foreign trip as foreign minister and established a new coalition government with ÖRP. It was a blatant and indeed thuggish intervention in Turkish Cypriot politics.

Besides the total failure of the new Soyer-led coalition administration, the urge of the Turkish Cypriot electorate of course played a role in parliamentary elections last April that to the dismay of the AKP and in defiance of last-minute efforts by State Minister Egemen Bağış in favor of the ÖRP, brought back the UBP to government with 26 seats in the 50-member Turkish Cypriot legislature.

Though both Talat and the AKP tried every possible tool to portray it as if a deal was on the horizon and even the U.N. secretary-general was convinced to give the process a life kiss with a trip to Cyprus, neither talks could produce a tangible result nor a perception could be created on either side of the island that a resolution is discernible. Attempts to scare the international community, particularly the European Union and the United States with the replacement of “pro-settlement” Talat in the Turkish Cypriot presidency by “hard line” and “anti-settlement” Prime Minister Dr. Derviş Eroğlu could derail the Cyprus talks process fairy tale helped build immense pressure on Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias, but that could not help a breakthrough in the talks either.

With Talat at least 10 points behind Eroğlu in public opinion polls and still unable to declare his reelection bid, apparently the AKPocracy and absolute ruler in Ankara started seeking alternate ways that may help a Talat victory in the polls. Old-time friend ÖRP leader Turgay Avcı visited Ankara at least twice last month. Former UBP leader and ex-foreign minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu was invited Ankara twice, and met with Prime Minister Erdoğan at least once. The aim was to produce a second candidate from center-right politics, divide Eroğlu’s vote and thus prevent Eroğlu getting elected in the first round and get Talat re-elected in the second round with the additional support he probably will get from the supporters of the splinter center-right candidate.

The ÖRP operation was a “coup” within Parliament by playing with parliamentary arithmetic but the Turkish Cypriot electorate punished the CTP, in last year’s parliamentary elections among other reasons for its collaboration with the AKP in undertaking that shameful intervention. Now, the intervention is coming right before presidential elections. I doubt Turkish Cypriot electorate will tolerate such a shameful development though because of established party doctrine probably Eroğlu will not be able to engage in any sort of confrontation with the AKP or Erdoğan over the issue.

This is the democratic mindset of AKP and Erdoğan proudly declaring they are committed to widening democracy in Turkey.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=dirty-games-on-cyprus-2010-03-04

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