TAKE CYPRUS OUT OF EU TALKS, ANKARA INSISTS
Financial Times, UK
Nov 29 2006
"We oppose the linkage between the negotiations and Cyprus," insisted
Ali Babacan, Turkey’s minister of the economy and chief negotiator
with the European Union, in an interview with the FT.
Mr Babacan said Cyprus was a separate issue from Turkey’s accession.
"Our proposal on the Cyprus issue is to put it to one side in the
accession negotiations and deal with it by lifting sanctions on both
sides simultaneously.
"But it is impossible for Turkey to open its ports to Cyprus
unilaterally. The prime minister has committed himself publicly on
this." Moreover, added the minister, "the whole of Turkey is behind
the government’s stance".
"In 2004," he stressed, "we tried very hard for a settlement of the
Cyprus question. We worked out a detailed plan and then, unfortunately,
the Greek Cypriots rejected it in a referendum at the instigation of
[the Cypriot president] Mr Papadopoulos.
Mr Babacan said the EU was not impartial on the issue because Cyprus
had joined the Union shortly after the referendum.
"The EU initially decided to end the isolation of Turkish Cyprus, to
balance the accession of Cyprus. But the EU has not carried through
on its promise. It is unfair to ask Turkey to make a unilateral
concession to take goods from Cyprus within the customs union when
the EU is not open to northern Cyprus.
"Turkey is a big and relatively poor country and perceived by some to
have a different culture. But this is wrong. Turkey shares Europe’s
fundamental values of democracy and the rule of law." Mr Babacan said
Turkey’s macroeconomic performance was also converging with the EU’s.
"The ratio of public sector net debt to gross domestic product has
fallen from over 90 per cent at its peak to a forecast of just under
50 per cent at the end of this year.
"Next year Turkey should hit the Maastricht limit of 60 per cent of
GDP for the ratio of gross debt to GDP. Turkey should easily hit all
the Maastricht treaty criteria for debt, deficits and inflation within
a couple of years."
Growth this year was likely to end up at about 6 per cent and inflation
was likely to be just under 10 per cent, despite the impact of higher
energy prices, he said. Next year’s inflation target would remain at
4 per cent. Employment growth was also buoyant.
Inward FDI is forecast at $15bn (~@11.4bn, £7.7bn) this year. Inward
FDI and long-term credit will cover the current account deficit of
about 8 per cent of GDP.
Most Turks still believe EU accession is good, insisted Mr Babacan.
But they have been shaken by the German discussion of a privileged
partnership and the proposed French law banning denial of the massacres
of Armenians during the first world war, quite apart from the Cyprus
issue. "The political reaction in Turkey to such European statements
and actions explains the decline in support for accession," said
Mr Babacan.
– -Boundary_(ID_JobjWD59YL5zAtwxOT9sXQ)–