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By Simon Bahceli Cyprus Mail

A WAR of words seems set to erupt between the Cypriot government and the Turkish Cypriot authorities over a proposal put to the European Parliament (EP) on whether it should establish an eight-person high-level contact group that would have direct links with the north.

The proposal will be discussed today at the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament in Brussels. If passed, it will mean members of the eight-person team could forge direct links with Turkish Cypriot political and business groups in the north, thereby creating the most substantive Turkish Cypriot-EU body to date.

Sources close to the six Greek Cypriot MEPs say Nicosia is unhappy with the proposal, as it rekindles fears that the formation of a contact group could lead to tacit recognition by the EP of the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state.

A source told the Cyprus Mail yesterday the six Cypriot MEPs were “mobilising to deal with the problem”.

“It is not that there is a problem with the EP having contacts with the Turkish Cypriots. They can come to Brussels, and Brussels can go to them. But we do not want such arrangements to be permanent or formalised. Once you do that it is very difficult to go back,” the source told the Mail.

The source added that it was also felt Turkey should not be rewarded for the “trouble it is causing for Europe at the moment”.

As it stands, the proposal will very likely receive the backing of the Greens and Liberals within the EP, but will be opposed by the European People’s Party (EPP).
Turkish Cypriot ‘MP’ Ozdil Nami, who has made several appearances in Brussels on behalf of his community, expressed confidence that the proposal would be accepted.
“We have the impression that all political groups welcome the issue. Contact with the group will most probably be accepted,” he told Turkish daily Zaman earlier this week.
Asked how the establishment of an EP contact group could in away way constitute recognition of the north, the Greek Cypriot source said: “It’s all in the detail. The first versions of the proposal were very blatant and referred to the Turkish Cypriot leader as President Talat as if the north were a separate country. I don’t think any Greek Cypriot would find that acceptable”.

The source insisted it was not the Cypriot government’s intentions to see the Turkish Cypriots excluded from contact with the EP, but added: “This is not the time to give out the wrong message. It will not help with finding a solution to the Cyprus problem and once such an arrangement has been formalised there will be no motivation to go back”.
An unnamed spokesperson for the Turkish Cypriot authorities yesterday criticised Greek Cypriot opposition to the proposal, saying, “This is nothing more than paranoia. Seeing that the Turkish Cypriots have made it patently clear they are working for reunification of the island, why should anyone be worried that a contact group would become a permanent arrangement?”

He added that Greek Cypriot rejection of any move by the EU in support of the Turkish Cypriots had become “automatic, irrespective of what the proposals entail”.

“First they rejected the idea of allowing us two out of the six seats in the European Parliament, as proposed in the Annan plan. Then they rejected the idea of giving us observer status in the parliament. And now this. They simply cannot stand the idea of Turkish Cypriots expressing their views in a European forum. It’s hardly democratic,” the spokesman said.

“All that will happen if the contact group is established is that we will be able to give the EP the information they need about the north,” he added.

He also reacted to statements coming out of Greek Cypriot circles in Brussels that Turkey should not be rewarded, especially in the light of its recent declaration that it did not recognise the Nicosia government, by saying: “This has nothing to do with Turkey, and if we do not get the opportunity to have our voices heard in Brussels, it does not mean Turkey is being punished. It is the Turkish Cypriots who are being punished.”

Still the same mentality, trying to keep TC hostage will push us further apart, we have to have our own voice in the EU, how else will they know us and what we think if they do not talk and work with us as well as GCs.