Comments and criticisms are still engaged the TC and Turkey's press and public about Markel visit to south Cyprus.
here is the interesting comments from YAVUZ BAYDAR
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Merkel goes cynical on Cyprus
“We greatly appreciate your courage, creativity shown and initiative taken to solve the problem. We see that you are taking many steps and we also see that the Turkish side is not responding adequately to your steps.”
These are the words, if cited accurately by the Greek Cypriot press, of Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, during a historic (after 49 years by a leader of the country to the island) visit, expressed to Dimitris Christofias, president of (Greek) Cyprus.
To describe the message as “problematic” would be an understatement. No matter how much “damage control” Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, tried to accomplish, it has been unhelpful.
“The German chancellor does not need to be lectured on history,” was the remark made by Seibert. It may be true, but the fact remains that Merkel needs a lecture on diplomacy.
It was at first unclear what she meant when she used the phrase the “Turkish side.” North Cyprus or Turkey? But it seems clear now that Merkel had Turkey in mind when speaking in a manner that implied taking Christofias’ side, and it raises new questions on very basic matters.
There is no doubt Merkel had no idea that the two leaders on the island, Christofias and Derviş Eroğlu, would attend a critical meeting in Geneva on Jan. 26. The unfruitful UN-led talks have been going on for years, which led to clearly articulated frustration by Ban Ki-moon, the secretary-general of the UN, in a paper calling on the two leaders to come with a plan to Geneva. One may argue about whether this “threat” will work. But it is worth reminding Merkel that the process is still under the control of the UN, and not the EU.
Greek Cypriots profoundly dislike the UN-led process. It stands as a nuisance before them, since they enjoy the benefits and leverages that EU membership has offered. It has been the reason for calls for caution by other “wise” leaders in the EU that the less interfering the EU is in the process, the better the options are for a settlement.
At first reading, Merkel’s remark may seem proper. Those with a mechanical sense of legality may argue that “of course, Turkey should implement the protocol and open its ports,” etc. But, as a matter of fact it is based on the assumption that a UN-led process does not exist, and there are only two parties that keep negotiating.
After the “I am on your side” declaration by Merkel, the prospect for Geneva is very predictable. Christofias, feeling the backing of a powerful EU actor for the traditional maximalism that marked the UN process, will sing the same verses, as will his disappointed counterpart, Eroğlu. Clearly, there is no reason Ban will thank Merkel for her “constructive” efforts.
Naiveté aside, it becomes ever clearer that the German chancellor is playing it cynically. Hoping the world ignores the message of the 2004 referendum still echoing in collective memory and the pledges to lift the embargo on the north, she deepens the rift by openly using the deadlock between Turkey and Cyprus in order to push out the former, further away from the prospect of the EU. Distancing itself further from Ankara, instrumentalizing the Cyprus conflict was the line held by Paris, and is now openly joined by Berlin. There can be no other explanation for her seemingly erratic remarks in Nicosia.
Yet, the question is open for Berlin: What is the German strategy for Turkey and its negotiation process with the EU? There is no answer but only frustration for Turkey’s growing regional and international role, followed by emotionally motivated acts of desperation -- like the one in Nicosia.
Cyprus needs a unified push for a solution from within. That it will be used as bait to integrate Turkey into the EU is a pipedream, because it is based on the assumption that Turkey cannot survive politically and economically without it. Times change, and some powerful actors in the EU sadly drag behind it. The real need for stability and security in the eastern Mediterranean is to be met only by actively promoting a functioning model of cohabitation on Cyprus; not by favoring one side of the conflict.
