The Daily Star, Lebanon
May 13 2004

Greek-Turkish relations mending for EU

Cyprus accession puts added strain on historical enemies

By Sarah Khoury
Special to The Daily Star

ATHENS: December 2004 will be known as a new stepping-stone in the
triangular Greek Turkish Cypriot relations. It is when the European
Union will accept or reject accession negotiations with Turkey. If
the green light is given for consultations between both parties,
Turkey will be on a concrete path toward becoming an EU member. But
will southern Cyprus, a new EU member, veto Ankara’s entrance? And
how is this going to affect Greek-Turkish ties?

To satisfy EU demands for its entrance into the union, drastic
changes have to be made based on the 2002 Copenhagen summit criteria
that stipulates Turkey must complete a series of economic political
and human right reforms before the December due date.

The EU council will judge notably progress on human rights issues and
democratization. If the feedbacks are positive, the commission will
recommend start of accession negotiations. Athens, an EU member since
1981 has taken the initiative to offer technical assistance to its
neighbor.

In an interview with The Daily Star, director of the Greek-Turkish
relations department at Greek Foreign Ministry Vassilis Pistinis said
that, in its support for Turkey’s orientation into the EU, Greece has
created a task force to help Ankara establish or re-model its
legislations and economic cooperation to fit

EU criteria’s.

During his historical trip to Greece last week Turkish Premier Recep
Tayyip Erdogan pledged to seek “new horizons” with Greece. Greek
Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis repeated his backing for Turkey’s
bid to join the EU.

Analysts have seen Turkey’s public debt as a burden to its entrance
to the EU. But in an interview with The Daily Star, Turkish
Ambassador to Greece Yigit Alpogan took the opportunity to compare
his nation to Greece.

“Greece is an EU member. It has a population of 10 million and a
public debt of $60 million. Turkey has a population of 70 million
with $120 billion public debts. This is not an issue.”

After Cyprus’s entrance into the EU on May 1, Nicosia is now one step
ahead of Ankara, as it can stall and veto Turkey’s path toward the
EU.

Consequences of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s failed blue print
in a bid to end Cyprus’s 30-year separation have topped discussions
among concerned parties. Both Pistinis and Alpogan have reiterated
the failed referendum will not strain bilateral ties.

Pistinis reiterated Athens stance on the need to avoid negative
consequences to the failed referendum. But Greek media have predicted
Cyprus would be sidelined from the diplomatic spotlight, especially
after Annan warned his blue print would not get a second chance.

Alpogan hailed Annan’s plan as an optimum compromise and said “in
modern diplomacy there must be some compromise a party can not get
all its demands fulfilled.” He said if Annan’s plan had passed it
would have been a “win-win” situation for all parties involved but
stressed Turkish-Greek relations would remain intact despite the
referendum.

Pistinis, for his part, added the EU would economically assist the
needs of Turkish-Cypriots. According to a draft EU document the union
pledged nearly $305 million to boost the economy of northern Cyprus
after the referendum left it out of the EU’s enlargement. Among
Turkish Cypriots some 65 percent approved Annan’s plan, which called
for a reunification of the island that would have abolished sanctions
and embargos on the northern part of the Cyprus.

Turkey is the only country that recognizes Turkish enclave on the
island.

When asked how Turkey felt about Greek Cypriot’s acceptance into the
EU, Turkish Ambassador to Greece Alpogan stated their application was
illegal because it only represents a portion of Cypriots.

“This government only represents the Greek side, so from the legal
sense the government did not and still does not represent all of
Cyprus that will one day unilaterally apply for EU membership. This
should be a legal application,” he said.

Alpogan added that according to the 1960 Zurich and London agreement,
Cyprus can only become a member of an organization in which both
Greece and Turkey are in. “Turkey is not a member of the EU,
therefore in 1990 that was one of our basic points of our objection
that this could not happen.”

He accused the EU of not listening to Ankara’s objection.

Director of the Greek-Turkish relations department at Greek Foreign
Ministry Pistinis agreed that under the agreements Cyprus could only
enter an organization in which both Greece and Turkey are part of. He
stressed NATO was an example of such an organization, but that the EU
did not fall under that specific legal definition.

Cyprus is not the only disagreement issue linking the two historical
enemies, but in recent years efforts have been made from both sides
to mend ties. Alpogan highlighted the 1999 rapprochement policy
drafted by Athens and Ankara, which he hailed as the beginning of “a
new era” in Turkish-Greek ties.

On a closer to home level, Greek and Turkish stances on the Aegean
Sea issue have been an ongoing difference between both Mediterranean
countries. Turkey says some Greek islands are situated on its
geographical shell calling it a “political issue,” while Greece
disputes that according to the 1975 delimitation of the continental
shell such a problem should be solved by the International Court of
Justice.

Pistinis hailed exploratory talks that are being held between both
countries and stressed: “Their purpose was to find common agreements
to solve problems and the delimitation of the continental shell.”

Pistins and Alpogan declined to give information on the
“confidential” content of discussions but expressed improvement and
optimism.

Another topic weighing down Greek-Turkish relations is the status of
minorities in Turkey which includes not only Greek Orthodox, but also
Assyrian, Armenians and Kurds.

Greek official Pistinis emphasized the right of religious freedom
under the Copenhagen agreement. He stressed Greece was concerned for
all non-Muslim minorities and not just for Greek Orthodox.