Cyprus-Forum.com

[Nickp]

Today was rarther a shambles on the EU, or should i say Austria making the EU look bad.

Any reservations that Austria had they should have made when the frame work was being hammered out rarther than a couple of days before. This has made the EU look shambolic. Alot of countries were bashing them and twisiting their arms such as England and Germany and ironically Greece and Cyprus were the main two other countries pressurising them.

I would have expected such a crisis to stem from the cypriot government, however they are smart enough to know when and when not to rock the boat.

To some extent i was concerned if Turkey walked away, a cyprus solution would walk away with it.

If today is only the beinging, Turkey has a heck of a ride as i'll wonder how they will react when Greece and Cyprus start to milk Turkey for concessions and the overall effect it will have on the Cyprus solution.

[Viewpoint]

Nickp

To some extent i was concerned if Turkey walked away, a cyprus solution would walk away with it.

Totally agree so any future attempts to veto Turkeys progress GC should keep this in mind.

If today is only the beinging, Turkey has a heck of a ride as i'll wonder how they will react when Greece and Cyprus start to milk Turkey for concessions and the overall effect it will have on the Cyprus solution.

Turkey is well aware that it will be a rocky path with lots of problems but are preapred to work hard to progress and I have asneeky feeling they will impress many EU nations thus improving their EU image during the same process.

As for Southern Cyprus and Greece if they act in a balanced fashion and do not demand the earth and the stars they could make way towards a solution but if at every chapter GCs churn out the same problems and wave a veto the EU will only tollerate so much they are a very insignificant country in relation to the big boys plus the US which I believe put them in their place today regarding paragraph 5. So its not as clear cut as you may want to think. The sooner they get back to negotiations via the UN the better. GCs should get both mechanisms working at the same time to help the process move forward.

[Piratis]

Any reservations that Austria had they should have made when the frame work was being hammered out rarther than a couple of days before.

The problem was not with Austria but with the UK presidency. It was their choice to leave this for the last moment.

Totally agree so any future attempts to veto Turkeys progress GC should keep this in mind.

Most definitely we don't want others vetoing Turkey for their own reasons. However vetoing Turkey for the Cyprus problem is something that will happen if Turkey doesn't change.

EU will only tollerate so much they are a very insignificant country in relation to the big boys plus the US which I believe put them in their place today regarding paragraph 5.

Thats what you think? If you go with this brains then I see the accession process of Turkey ending soon. Yesterday it was Austria alone, and just this one country (which is smaller than Greece) almost managed to cancel everything. If Austria was backed by Cyprus and Greece on this then no accession process would start.
Remember that Austria doesn't have anything very "personal" with Turkey, this makes it easier to change their mind. But this is not the case with Greece and Cyprus. So make sure that we will not want to use the veto, because if we do want there will be nobody that can stop us.

[Viewpoint]

Piratis with this brain of yours dont you realize that most countries on the EU path get vetoed Uk got vetoed twice, they just correct themselves and continue, but what you must realize that it is in your best interests that Turkey continue on the EU path so the you may try and extract as many concessions as your heart desires, an end to Turkey EU aspirations would also mean an end to a solution for Cyprus.

So veto at your own peril

[Piratis]

Viewpoint, I hope that you realized that we want Turkey in the accession process. I didn't say that we will veto Turkey now. What I said many times is that Turkey should start making the steps. This steps should lead in 10-15 years to a fair solution of the Cyprus problem were RoC and Turkey are two EU partners that respect each other.

The veto will be used only if Turkey shows that while she wants to take the benefits of EU accession she doesn't want to give anything in return. It is up to Turkey to decide if she wants to turn this into a win-win or into a loss-loss situation.

[garbitsch]

I do not buy that Turkey will not be vetoed in the future, even if she does everything. I still believe people hold negative attitude towards Turkish membership.

[Nickp]

With Turkey now starting talks, Let the the Turkish concessions begin!!!

[Nickp]

I know the UK are quite pro-turkish but Jacks Straw is right up Gul's bum!

[Main_Source]

Jack Straw is Tony Blair's Henry Kissinger.

I dont know who hate him more...the UK Muslims because he was heavily backing the invasion of Iraq and is pro-Israel...or the GC for his blind support of Turkey.

[Viewpoint]

Nickp

I know the UK are quite pro-turkish but Jacks Straw is right up Gul's bum!

Its called being allies and friendship, Im sure you have heard of it.