LUXEMBOURG: European Union appeals to Turkey to embrace proposals to ease trade on Cyprus

The European Union (EU) appealed to Turkey on Monday (October 16) to embrace proposals to ease trade restrictions on Cyprus to avert a possible freeze in Ankara's EU membership talks. But it was not clear whether Turkey, embittered by the adoption by French lawmakers of a bill making it a crime to deny that Ottoman Turks committed genocide against Armenians in 1915, is in any mood to make concessions on Cyprus. "I would avoid any expressions related to pessimism or optimism," said EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said before a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul. "Instead I would opt for realism of the will, in other words we may have the last window of opportunity on the Cyprus issue in the coming weeks and months for a very long time, perhaps for years and therefore both communities and all the parties of the Cyprus programme should now really show political will and I have pleaded to all EU member states to fully support the Finnish formula which is the only game in town and which is the best available formula to solve this crisis." Although it was not on the official agenda of the Luxembourg talks, anger over the French vote seemed bound to dominate the regular talks with the 25-nation bloc's biggest candidate. The EU, represented by the Finnish and German foreign ministers as well as Rehn and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, is pressing Ankara again to open its ports to shipping from Cyprus as required by its EU customs union. "I say clearly, Turkey must ratify the Ankara protocol but I have the impression both sides have a bit of room for manoeuvre to improve the negotiation process," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said. European diplomats said the French move, even if it seems unlikely to become law, made it almost impossible for Ankara to make any concession over Cyprus before elections next year, despite Finnish diplomatic efforts. "Well, I don't think there has been reactions to some decisions taken by the parliament of France," Solana said. "I don't think that there has been any element of tension between us and the Turks at the moment. I think president Chirac has spoken with the presidents of Turkey so I think they should be relaxed. In principle we should have a constructive lunch in which we are going to talk about many issues such as Cyprus and the political situation in the region in which Turkey is, the wider Middle East and then the bilateral question between Turkey and the European Union." Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said at the weekend French President Jacques Chirac had telephoned him to apologise and promise help in heading off the bill. Solana told reporters that should relax the atmosphere in the talks. But the row has fuelled Turkish nationalist arguments that the Europeans do not really want Turkey as a member, thus it is pointless to make concessions on Cyprus, Kurdish rights, religious minorities or ties with Armenia to please Brussels. Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja is trying to craft a mini-deal that would ease trade both between Cyprus and Turkey, and between the Turkish Cypriot community in northern Cyprus and the rest of Europe. Turkey does not recognise the Greek Cypriot government in Nicosia, which represents the divided island in the EU. The executive European Commission issues its next progress report on Turkey's candidacy on November 8. It is likely to conclude that the EU-driven reform process has slowed and Ankara has not yet met its treaty obligations on Cyprus. That could prompt EU leaders at a mid-December summit to freeze or slow the entry negotiations.

ITN Source | October 16, 2006

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