Cyprus-Forum.com

[Viewpoint]

The GC EU leverage goes up in smoke.

you need fire to have smoke...and what leverage?...

we just have to wait from the "parasites", you know the ones fed and maintained like yourself, to do the dirty work...D day fast approaching...lets see tomorrow what the parasites, the fed and maintained like yourself have in store...

You are gonna be disappointed.

[boomerang]

The GC EU leverage goes up in smoke.

you need fire to have smoke...and what leverage?...

we just have to wait from the "parasites", you know the ones fed and maintained like yourself, to do the dirty work...D day fast approaching...lets see tomorrow what the parasites, the fed and maintained like yourself have in store...

You are gonna be disappointed.

why?...

[SKI-preo]

you need fire to have smoke...and what leverage?...

we just have to wait from the "parasites", you know the ones fed and maintained like yourself, to do the dirty work...D day fast approaching...lets see tomorrow what the parasites, the fed and maintained like yourself have in store...


You are gonna be disappointed.


why?...

If the smoke is not "just right" the the loukanika will battalepsoun.

[Kikapu]

Sarkozy travels to Turkey just to spell it out to them but they still don't get it...

Turkey not fit for EU accession

In a brief visit to Turkey, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has reaffirmed his stance against the country's EU membership ambitions. Turkey has insisted membership remains a priority.

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,14875593,00.html

The story I read in the International Herald Tribune 2 days ago on the above topic stated that Erdogan was very pissed off with Sarkozy for turning down the invitation made by Erdogan for him to come to Turkey on a 3 day State visit as the President of France and not the President of the G-20. Erdogan said he wanted Sarkozy to learn more about Turkey during those 3 days. Instead, Sarkozy blew off the invitation and just came for 6 hours and then said, Adios to Erdogan after telling him that they cannot become full EU members, but instead some kind of "Privilaged Membership". What Sarkozy should have told Erdogan is, that both their EU & Privilaged Memberships road, if and when it happens, will need to first go through Downtown Nicosia, but maybe because it is so obvious, it would have been redundant to even mentioning it.

First of all, what is there to learn about Turkey in 3 days that Sarkozy doesn't already know.??

Secondly, I think the reason why Sarkozy turned down the invitation to come on a State visit to Turkey is, Sarkozy didn't want to feel obliged to invite Erdogan on a State visit to France also.

It could also be, that Sarkozy didn't want to eat Kebabs for 3 days in a row.!

Don't you hate those Cuisine Snob French.!

[Hermes]

The GC EU leverage goes up in smoke.

I don't think so...

Hugh Pope, an analyst at International Crisis Group, said unrest in the Middle East should be a “wake up call” to make Turkey focus on its EU reforms, including solving Cyprus. “Turkey's long-term goals are best served in its relation with the EU. Turkey has no real alternative to the EU.”

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/ ... RF20110227

[Kikapu]

The GC EU leverage goes up in smoke.

I don't think so...

Hugh Pope, an analyst at International Crisis Group, said unrest in the Middle East should be a “wake up call” to make Turkey focus on its EU reforms, including solving Cyprus. “Turkey's long-term goals are best served in its relation with the EU. Turkey has no real alternative to the EU.”

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/ ... RF20110227

Hugh Pope has always written articles that favoured Turkey, so when Huge pope writes, Turkey should listen.!

It is true, that only few months ago Turkey was threatening to look to the East if the West (EU) was closing it's doors for her. The only problem now is, that the "East" is in turmoil and are now looking to the West in wanting Democracy for their countries as the dictators fall one by one, while the UN is encouraging the dictators to remove themselves and to allow Democracy flourish which has been the main demand by the people of those countries.

You could say that what is happening in the middle east right now is bad timing for Turkey and the "trnc" in their demands for Cyprus settlement NOT to be based on Democracy, Human Rights, International law and the EU Principles, as per the AP. After everything Ban Ki-Moon has been saying on Democracy and Human Rights while Middle East is "burning down" with Democracy Frenzy by the people of Middle East since his last meeting with Christofias and Eroglu in January, I can only anticipate what his reactions are going to be when Eroglu comes to the next meeting with Ban Ki-Moon and says, "I want a Cyprus settlement that does not include Democracy, Human Rights, International Law and the EU Principles". Lets see how big those Eroglu balls really are to make such a demand while the Arabs are dying for Democracy and Human Rights. In politics, timing can be everything sometimes, good or bad.!

[Hermes]

The GC EU leverage goes up in smoke.

I don't think so...

Hugh Pope, an analyst at International Crisis Group, said unrest in the Middle East should be a “wake up call” to make Turkey focus on its EU reforms, including solving Cyprus. “Turkey's long-term goals are best served in its relation with the EU. Turkey has no real alternative to the EU.”

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/ ... RF20110227

Hugh Pope has always written articles that favoured Turkey, so when Huge pope writes, Turkey should listen.!

Another journalist on Turkey's payroll with some friendly words of advice...

The problem overlooked by all these staunch defenders of Turkey’s refusal to move is that neither Turkey nor the Turkish Cypriots have any long-term interest in the status quo. The Turkish part of Cyprus will remain little more than a backwater of Turkey. By refusing to come to terms with the Greek Cypriots, Ankara will freeze its EU accession and will hurt its own reform agenda, prosperity and regional attractiveness.

I am happy the ICG is both clever and stubborn enough to keep reminding Turkey that being stuck on Cyprus is extremely problematic. Yes, it sounds very tough to proclaim that Cyprus is more important for Turkey than the EU. But please keep an eye on the political and economic realities of today and tomorrow. They clearly indicate that self-delusion can easily turn self-destructive. Better change tactics sooner rather than later.

http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist-23 ... -dont.html

[Hermes]

Even the usually pro-Turkish "The Economist" seems to have given up on Erdogan...

Mr Erdoğan goes to Germany
IT IS no secret that Turkey's efforts to join the European Union have not been going well. But a bout of Europe-bashing this week by Turkey’s mildly Islamist prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has exposed just how rotten relations have become since the EU formally began membership talks with Turkey in 2004. All the more so because Mr Erdoğan made his comments in Germany, where he was meant to be shoring up Turkey’s case. If anything his visit has had the opposite effect...

Full article here:

http://www.economist.com/blogs/newsbook ... and_europe

[humanist]

VP

If the EU keeps her promises then Turkey will do the same.

I think that the EU wil be very emabarrased if they said Turkey iw alloeing Cyprus flagged ships/ vessels therefore we will move on with some chapters.

Tat will once stop when it comes to Turkey freeing Cyprus from istoccupation and more tlks eill happend until all obstacles are dealth with.

[Hermes]

One more reason why Turkey will soon come banging on the EU door...

Turkey hardest hit in sell-off

THE biggest sell-off in emerging-market debt since 2008 is hitting Turkey hardest as Middle East unrest threatens to widen the country’s current-account deficit and boost inflation.

Turkey’s foreign-currency bonds have dropped 7,9% since the end of October, leading a slide in developing-nation debt, according to JPMorgan Chase.

Government securities in lira lost 10% for dollar-based investors as the currency touched an eight-month low. Credit-default swaps on Turkey jumped to 174 basis points from 133, the biggest advance among 16 emerging markets, CMA prices show.

Political turmoil from Libya to Oman is lifting the cost of oil imports and curbing demand from a region that buys about 27% of Turkey’s exports. The January trade gap was 78% wider than the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey , government data showed yesterday. Interest- rate cuts since December aimed at narrowing the shortfall by depreciating the lira have dented the appeal of fixed-income assets on concern inflation may jump from a record low.

"Rising oil prices could hit oil importers like Turkey pretty hard, and the country is dependent on portfolio inflows to finance the current-account deficit," Kevin Daly, who helps oversee about 6 bn as an emerging-market money manager at Aberdeen Asset Management in London, said last week . "So when you’re running somewhat of a questionable monetary policy and investors are concerned about the downside risks, it’s a tricky situation."

Turkey’s lira bonds fell yesterday, sending the yield on two- year debt up 17 basis points to 8,95%, the highest level since May 31, according to the RBS Istanbul benchmark bond index. The ISE national 100 index of shares sank 4,2%, the most in nine months. The lira weakened 0,8% against the dollar for the biggest decline among major emerging-market currencies in New York.

Turkey’s international bonds have pared gains after surging as much as 102% since October 2008 on economic expansion rivalling China’s and credit- rating upgrades from Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s (S&P). Turkey, which needed about 53 bn in aid from the International Monetary Fund from 1999 to 2008 to finance budget deficits swell ing past 20% of gross domestic product, is rated Ba2 at Moody’s and BB at S&P, two levels below investment grade.

The sell-off has dragged the lira down 11% against the dollar since October for the worst decline among emerging-market currencies and lifted yields on international bonds to 5,81% from 4,53% on October 29, JPMorgan’s EMBI+ index shows.

Borrowing costs are now the highest relative to the emerging- market average since August, according to monthly data compiled by JPMorgan.

Yields on Turkey’s two-year lira bonds have climbed 132 basis points, or 1,32 percentage points, during the past four months to the highest versus Russia’s two- year rouble debt since June, according to data compiled by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Bloomberg.

Credit default swaps linked to Turkey, which imports 93% of its oil, are trading at the highest since April relative to Russia, the world’s largest energy exporter, and reached a nine-month peak versus the Markit iTraxx SOVX Ceemea index of swaps for emerging Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

"Turkey seems set to be significantly impacted by the current crisis," RBS emerging-market researcher Tim Ash said.

Protests across the Middle East that toppled governments in Tunisia and Egypt have raised perceptions of political risk in developing nations while record food prices and Brent crude’s rally to as much as 119,79 a barrel heighten concern that inflation will quicken.

The decline in global emerging-market bonds followed a record 53bn of inflows into mutual funds that buy the securities last year, data compiled by Cambridge, Massachusetts- based research firm EPFR Global show.

While countries including Brazil, Russia, India and China lifted borrowing costs this year to curb inflation, Turkey’s central bank unexpectedly lowered its benchmark interest rate to its lowest yet of 6,25% on January 20 and left the rate unchanged after a February 15 policy meeting.

http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/C ... ?id=135954