Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Nov 29 2008

Greek Cypriot deputy wants another ice-breaking match

European Parliament member Marios Matsakis holds up coins during an
address at the Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee meeting in
Ankara.

Turkey should consider soccer diplomacy with Greek Cyprus as it could
help restore ties between Ankara and the Greek Cypriot government,
which it does not recognize, a European parliamentarian said
yesterday.

President Abdullah Gül broke a Turkish foreign policy taboo by
visiting Armenia to watch a soccer game in early September between the
national soccer teams of the two countries in the World Cup. The visit
paved the way for contacts between Turkey and Armenia, who have had no
formal ties since 1993.

Marios Matsakis, a Greek Cypriot member of the European Parliament
(EP) visiting Turkey to attend a meeting of members of the Turkish and
the EP in Ankara, said he conveyed his proposal to PM ErdoÄ?an
during their talks this week.

"It seems the soccer game between Turkey and Armenia worked. Perhaps
Turkey can play a game with us and everything will be fine," Matsakis
said during a session of the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee
on Friday.

Although the soccer diplomacy appears to have helped ties between
Armenia and Turkey, relations with Greek Cyprus are far more
complicated. Turkey does not recognize the Greek Cypriot
administration, which is internationally recognized as representing
the whole island. Turkey, on the other hand, is the sole country that
recognizes the Turkish Cypriot state controlling the north of
Cyprus. Cyprus’ lingering division causes problems in Turkey’s EU
aspirations, with Greek Cyprus using its voting rights as an EU member
to force Turkey to make concessions on the Cyprus issue.

Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders have been holding direct talks on
reunification of the island but Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali
Talat complains the Greek Cypriot side has been taking very slow
steps, preventing any significant progress in the talks. Matsakis said
at the meeting that Turkey should stay away from the talks to let the
two sides reach an agreement.

Gül’s historic visit to Yerevan widely won praise from Europe
and liberals at home but opposition parties remain skeptical about
restoring ties with a country that still keeps a chunk of regional
ally Azerbaijan’s territory under occupation over a dispute over
Nagorno-Karabakh and supports the Armenian diaspora’s efforts to win
international recognition for Armenian genocide claims.

"Future generations will see this as a naïve attempt if efforts
fail this time again," Onur Ã-ymen, a senior member of the main
opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), said at the same
parliamentary gathering. He said Turkey had undertaken similar
initiatives in the direction of normalizing relations with Armenia in
the past but that they all failed because of a lack of response from
Yerevan.

Ã-ymen, whose party is a strong critic of the EU and many of the
reforms pushed forward by the government, also expressed skepticism
about the European involvement in the process. "Our European friends
should be moderate in their comments and praises and should refrain
from applauding every step [the government takes]," he said of the
European statements welcoming Gül’s visit and the
Turkish-Armenian rapprochement that followed.

Joost Lagendijk, a firm supporter of Turkey’s accession to the EU who
also co-chairs the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee, responded
to Ã-ymen’s criticism saying it was Turkey, not the EU, that sent
Gül to Yerevan. But Ã-ymen was not convinced, saying the
process started under pressure from the EU and the United States.

Ergenekon controversy

Ties with Armenia were not the only issue of contention between
Lagendijk and Ã-ymen. On Thursday, during another gathering of the
EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee, the two disagreed on the
Ergenekon case and press freedom in Turkey. Ã-ymen criticized the
European delegation for not complaining about a recent step by the
Prime Ministry to cancel the authorization of a group of journalists
to work inside the Prime Ministry building. This, he claimed, shows
freedom of the press was not at all important for the EU.

Lagendijk, on the other hand, said he did not defend the restrictions
imposed by the Prime Ministry since they resemble and in a way justify
a deep-rooted policy of the General Staff to not accredit several
newspapers and television stations which it considers anti-secularist.

The Prime Ministry recently revoked the accreditation of a group of
journalists on the grounds of false reporting. A Turkish daily said
the European parliamentarians raised the issue during a meeting with
Prime Minister ErdoÄ?an this week but both the European
delegation and the Prime Ministry denied the report.

On Ergenekon, a network of military and civilian officials and
criminal elements that is suspected of plotting against the
government, Ã-ymen was also unhappy about the European backing for
the legal action against the group. "How can you take sides so openly?
There are different views on this. ¦ Please don’t take sides
because tomorrow you may feel ashamed," he told Lagendijk, a frequent
visitor to the courthouse where the Ergenekon hearings are being held.

Lagendijk admitted that the issue was complicated, but noted that CHP
leader Deniz Baykal had declared himself an "attorney" for the
defendants long before the court proceedings began.

The meeting was the last gathering of the EU-Turkey Parliamentary
Committee in Turkey with Lagendijk participating. The Dutch
parliamentarian, married to a Turkish journalist and reportedly
planning to settle in Turkey, has announced that he will not stand in
next year’s European Parliament elections. He has been the co-chair of
the committee for the past seven years.

Lagendijk has fervently supported the current government in its reform
efforts but, like many other pro-Turkey politicians in Europe,
recently leveled serious criticism on a slowdown in the pace of
reform. He warned that Turkey’s growing influence in the Caucasus and
the Middle East will not substitute for the reforms it fails to
deliver.

29 November 2008, Saturday
TODAY’S ZAMAN ANKARA