Main focus of Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Negotiations between the EU and Turkey are threatened

The Finnish government in charge of the revolving EU presidency announced on Monday, November 27th, the failure of negotiations with Ankara on the opening of Turkish ports to Cypriot ships. The freezing of EU accession negotiations seems an inevitable consequence.

Phileleftheros - Cyprus

"The curtains have been drawn on the initiative of the Finnish presidency", notes Pampos Kaskanis after the failure of the latest attempt of mediation on the Cypriot question. "The Cyprus-Turkey question has reached a dead end, as have negotiations for the latter's EU accession. In the wings, a Plan B is being drawn up. It foresees the adoption of sanctions if Turkey does not respect the accession conditions before next December 6th, conditions that it has nonetheless agreed to respect. ... .Turkey has opted for a test of strength, determined not to give in. The adoption of sanctions is new to the EU. Which sanctions are we talking about? How should they be applied? And above all, is there such a thing as a sanction against bad will?" (28/11/2006)

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Hufvudstadsbladet - Finland

Björn Mansson laments that the Finnish presidency's attempt to broker a compromise between Turkey and Cyprus has failed and that Turkey's membership negotiations now threaten to come to a standstill. "This is bad news. The incumbent pro-European Turkish government could have used concrete progress in the country's bid for EU membership as a trump card in next year's election campaign. Now the anti-EU Islamic opposition has been given a boost instead. That's a pity, even if it was inevitable. The prize for the silliest comment in this affair goes to Turkey's Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül, who on his arrival in Finland announced that Cyprus was a political issue that should not affect the membership negotiations. Was he really foolish enough to believe that the negotiations were about anything else?" (28/11/2006)

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Open Democracy - United Kingdom

Katinka Barysch, economist for the Centre for European reform, shares her views on Cyprus. "EU leaders should bear in mind that the [Turkish Prime minister] Recep Tayyip Erdogan government has little room for manoeuvre ahead of Turkey's national elections, the first since his moderate Islamist Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (Justice & Development Party / AKP) came to power in November 2002. Any concessions would play into the hands of Turkey's nationalist opposition. Many Turks feel that, since it was the Greek Cypriots who in 2004 voted down the Kofi Annan plan for reunification (which would have allowed a united Cyprus to enter the EU), it is Nicosia that has to move first. However important Cyprus is, it is not worth calling off the accession talks over the issue. Turkey would probably be asked to make even bigger concessions before it could resume negotiations. And Cyprus would forego the last chance of having a negotiated settlement." (28/11/2006)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU enlargement, » EU Policy, » Cyprus, » Turkey

Expresso - Portugal

For the academic José Teixeira Fernandes, the EU has opened a Pandora's box that it may not be able to shut again. "With the 2004 Cyprus accession and the opening of negotiations with Turkey the following year, the problem has become a question of European interior politics. In a recent Commission report, we can for example read that "Turkey continues to forbid Cypriot boats access to its ports'. This is no surprise. Any observer will have already noticed the Turkish strategy of 'parallel diplomacy' with countries in the Organisation of the Islamic Conference in order to obtain international recognition of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Within the Turkish government and public opinion, there seems to be a growing conviction that the EU needs Turkey more than the other way round." (25/11/2006)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU enlargement, » EU Policy, » Cyprus, » Turkey
All available articles from » José Pedro Teixeira Fernandes

taz - Germany

According to Jürgen Gottschlich, the EU has only itself to blame for the current problem with Cyprus. "Against its own better judgement it allowed Cyprus to become a full member without insisting first on the reunification of the two halves of the island. From the very beginning everyone knew that sooner or later this problem would become a major obstacle... Cyprus had been divided for 30 years before the UN plan for its reunification was put to a referendum. The EU supported this plan, but the Greek Cypriots sabotaged it while most Turkish Cypriots voted in favour of its implementation. EU heads of state and government who act as if Turkey is simply refusing to recognise the rights of a normal EU member state now are exposing their political inadequacy." (28/11/2006)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU enlargement, » EU Policy, » Cyprus, » Turkey
All available articles from » Jürgen Gottschlich

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