‘GREEKS’ REFUSAL TO ACCEPT ANNAN PLAN IS A PITY’

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Feb 23 2007

Turkey’s permanent representative to the UN said he regretted that
the Annan Plan was not accepted by the Greek Cypriot side of Cyprus,
noting had the Greek Cypriots accepted the plan, there would today
be a joint organization in Cyprus representing the entire island.

Baki Ýlkin spoke at a meeting held by the Turkish-American Foundation,
where he gave a speech, "Turkey’s Foreign Policy in the 21st Century."

Ýlkin said that Turkish diplomatic forces were currently engaged in
serious efforts to obtain a non-permanent member spot on the UN’s
Security Council and he was very hopeful for Turkey to be granted
a place. Responding to questions after his speech, Ýlkin commented
on Cyprus, noting his disappointment that the Annan Plan hadn’t
been accepted by the Southern Cypriot side. Ýlkin said if a shared
political entity were formed on the island giving Cypriot Turks equal
representational rights as the Greek Cypriots, the problems on Cyprus
would have been solved.

Armenian claims There are two choices before the Armenian government,
Ýlkin said, one choice being to form good relations with Ankara,
the other being to choose to support ongoing efforts such as backing
the Armenian resolution pending at the US Congress.

Ýlkin recalled Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s historical call
to Yerevan to engage in a joint commission into the Armenian claims,
noting that the proposal, which would have included examinations
of historical archives in both countries, never received a positive
answer from the Yerevan administration.

Ýlkin added that for Armenia, good relations with Turkey would also
translate into good relations with both Azerbaijan and Georgia.

Ýlkin asserted that a Turkey which was prevented or blocked from
accession to the EU would affect not only Turkey itself, but all of
Europe. Ýlkin also said that Turkey had in fact for a long time been a
part of Europe, and that even it it were not allowed to join the EU,
the direction taken by Turkey was already clear: towards democracy
and values that the West too shared in.

Ankara and Athens in good track Regarding Ankara’s relations with its
neighbors, Ýlkin said Turkey and Greece have signed 21 agreements
between the two countries over years of successful talks, and that
not only diplomatic, but trade relations too were very positive
between Ankara and Athens. Ýlkin also said relations between Turkey
and Bulgaria, Romania, and Azerbaijan were very good, and that current
ties with Russia are being developed.

In terms of Turkey’s relations with its Middle Eastern neighbors,
Ýlkin touched on Syria, noting that lately, diplomatic relations
between Ankara and Damascus were good, despite past relations clouded
by tension over the fact that former PKK head Abdullah Ocalan resided
in the Syrian capital.

Turkey’s relations with both Israel and Palestine have been developing
in a positive way, Ýlkin said.

Responding to a question about Iran’s nuclear program, Ýlkin said
that Turkey would always back dialogue in the region, but that an
Iran capable of producing nuclear weapons would only add chaos and
confusion to the region.

–Boundary_(ID_SSoBWrtbEaxy/t7gnFQFQQ)–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress