Cyprus-Forum.com

[zan]

12.29.2005 Thursday - ISTANBUL 16:07

Sequence of Surreal Events in Cyprus

We wrote hopeful stories after the Greek Cypriots said “no” to the Annan Plan. We began thinking that the Turkish Cypriots’ bad luck could change over a short period of time, following statements by European Union (EU) Commissioner for Foreign Relations Chris Patten and the then-EU Commissioner for Enlargement Gunter Verheugen, who said: “The Greek Cypriots cheated on us.”


‘Hopeful’ because “cheating” was a serious allegation and it was used for the leader a country which had just been a member of the club. At that time, or to be more precise, in May 2004, many people thought Tassos Papadopoulos could be isolated and made to feel remorseful, just like the former Austrian racist leader Joerg Haider.



The current stage that has been reached is the rewarding phase of Papadopoulos, who “deceived the EU.” The issue contains plenty of surreal elements when viewed closely. When the EU gave a membership perspective to the Greek Cypriots without the problem being sorted out, Brussels bargained and told the Greek Cypriots, “If the United Nations happens to suggest a plan, you will agree to it without any objection.” “Of course, hasn’t this always been the case?” the Greek Cypriots responded. Fortuitously enough, the EU had not demanded a written guarantee from the Greek Cypriots; the 25-nation bloc instead trusted their words. We learned about this from the EU Commission after the Greek Cypriots said “no” to the Annan Plan. This is the reason why Verheugen said, “I was cheated on.”



The EU never leaves anything to chance when the topic is Turkey; however, let’s assume that “it was caught off guard; it trusted the Greek Cypriots too much.” Then, aren’t those who said, “yes” to the Annan Plan right in expecting that pledges made to Turks be quickly fulfilled? However, there is a sequence of things going on at this point that it is hard to believe. The Greek Cypriots have been hampering direct trade and blocking financial aid for the last 18 months. No term president, except the Netherlands, has dealt with the regulations. And I do not spare the Brits. The Greek Cypriots are debilitating Turkey’s supporters after surmounting October 3 in a crisis manner, by taking full advantage of both the constitutional as well as the budget crises. It is now the right time to bury the regulations. They first demanded that the regulations be separated from each other and when the EU thought of it as something manageable, they said: “You will give the €120 million aid under the terms that I will want to specify.” Among these terms there are elements such Varosha and property, which should be sorted out as a part of the final settlement.


There is one more surreal event, we ought not to overlook. The EU Commission appointed a new representative to Nicosia last July. The person appointed is a Greek Cypriot called Themis Themistocleous. The Commission appointed the citizens as representatives for all the new member countries. That is true; however, none of those appointed for the other countries has fought against the establishment he or she is representing. Themistocleous was the director of the Cyprus News Agency before he was appointed representative. As we are ‘side’ to the problem, let’s listen to what the Financial Times newspaper said when Themistocleous was appointed. The paper said the agency headed by Themistocleous kept carrying on ‘official’ attacks on Mehmet Ali Talat, the president of TRNC. It also campaigned against the Annan Plan. We should also note that the EU Commission, which is now represented by Mr. Themistocleous in Cyrpus, has strongly supported the UN plan and Verheugen is the vice president of the Commission that appointed Themistocleous.


As Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said in Brussels this week, the EU is having a litmus test for its own reputation. The level of its performance so far has been damagingly low.


December 12, 2005
Brussels


You have to ask the question, does anybody want a solution to this problem?