By Jean Christou
(archive article - Wednesday, December 6, 2006)
GERMANY and France yesterday went back on plans to ask for a new 18-month deadline for Ankara to open its ports and airports to Cyprus, rejecting the idea of setting ultimatums for Turkey’s accession course.
The announcement came only hours after the Cyprus government welcomed the proposal made on Monday by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The u-turn came after EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn had pleaded with Paris and Berlin not to request any more deadlines from Turkey. He said the Cyprus issue was best left to the UN and not the EU.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also telephoned Merkel hours before she was to meet French President Jacques Chirac. “I reminded her what the costs of a wrong step could be,” Erdogan told the parliamentary group of his Justice and Development Party.
“I told her that we hope such a historic mistake will not occur at the summit of EU leaders on December 14-15” he said.
Speaking at a joint news conference with Chirac and Polish President Lech Kaczynski in Germany yesterday, Merkel told reporters: "Our goal is that the Ankara Protocol [on regular trade with the 10 new EU members] will be implemented.”
"We don't want to set any kind of ultimatum," Merkel added.
Chriac added: "The position of France is exactly that which the Chancellor has just described and I believe that Poland's position is not very far away from ours."
Turkey is obliged to open its ports and airports to Greek Cypriot traffic under the EU customs union protocol. Ankara has remained defiant, creating a dilemma for the EU.
EU foreign ministers are due to decide on Monday what sanctions to impose on Ankara. There is a proposal to freeze eight of Turkey’s 35 chapters that are relevant to the protocol and to Cyprus.
Reuters quoted a source in Chirac’s office as saying that France, not fully satisfied with the Commission's idea of partially suspending negotiations, wanted a "rendezvous clause" that would effectively set a deadline for Turkey to comply with EU demands.
But Merkel, under pressure from EU countries that oppose the idea, avoided any mention of hard deadlines for Turkey. Instead, she said Germany would lobby for the EU to issue a new report on Turkish compliance by the period beginning with Turkey's elections next autumn but no later than in 2009.
Government Spokesman Christodoulos Pashiardis said yesterday he had no comment on the latest developments but Foreign Minister George Lillikas told Reuters in Brussels that while he did not support ending talks with Turkey, the Union had a duty to be firm. "If we want Turkey to be reformed, we should take serious sanctions,” he said.
Earlier in the day, prior to Merkel’s u-turn, Pashiardis said the German proposal had the government’s full support.
''If elections in Turkey next year are considered a preventive factor towards the implementation of the Turkish commitments, the period of 18 months suggested by Germany provides Ankara the easiness to respond to the obligations it has undertaken without pretending to face any internal difficulty or any political cost,” Pashiardis told his daily briefing.
“After this period there will be no excuse for Turkey failing to comply with the European obligation.”
Commenting on Rehn’s statement urging France and Germany not to pressure Ankara with deadlines, Pashiardis said the demand for Turkey to fulfil its EU obligations could not be considered pressure.
“On the contrary, pressure is the demand of some not to annoy Ankara regarding its refusal to comply,” he said.
“None of this was related to the Cyprus issue,” Pashiardis said. “Right now what is being examined is the behaviour of Turkey towards the EU and not the course of the Cyprus question.”
Turkey yesterday urged the EU to avoid making “a historic mistake” next week when Ankara’s progress comes under scrutiny, warning that a new deadline on Cyprus would have a “negative impact”.
Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2006
