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Western EuropeJanuary 3 2005

Turkey finds EU’s Cyprus conditions unpalatable

Turkish government officials have said the EU’s decision to open membership talks with Turkey on condition that Ankara recognises the Greek Cypriot administration is unpalatable.The EU, at its Brussels summit on December 17, said talks with Turkey could start on October 3 this year after Turkey recognises the Greek Cypriot administration as the sole government of the divided Mediterranean island Cyprus. The EU said Turkey must also accept possible permanent curbs on the free circulation of Turkish labour in the union.
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Cyprus has been divided since Turkey invaded and occupied the northern two-fifths of the island in 1974 to protect the Turkish Cypriot minority and crush an attempt to unify Cyprus with Greece.

The United Nations recognises the Greek Cypriot administration in the south as the only government in Cyprus. Only Turkey recognises the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), the Turkish Cypriot mini-state in the north.

Greek Cypriots overwhelmingly rejected a UN-brokered plan to reunify the island in a plebiscite in May of this year. The Turkish Cypriots on the same day voted for unification.

The European Parliament approved a E259m aid package to the TRNC in November. The funds are to be used for water, sewage, electricity, roads and other infrastructure projects.

Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said his country could not recognise the Greek Cypriot administration. “Turkey can’t put its signature on a document that runs counter to national interests,” the pro-government Turkish Star TV quoted Mr Erdogan as saying in Brussels on December 17.

Opposition leaders agreed. “Turkey should freeze its relations with the EU because it isn’t ready to accept the nation as a member,” opposition leader Deniz Baykal told a news conference in Ankara.

Cem Duna, a business consultant who served as Turkey’s ambassador to the EU, said a formula needed to be drawn that would allow for international recognition for the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, including lifting economic embargoes and encouraging tourism investments in the north as a means of helping to find a solution to the Cyprus problem.

Turkish business leaders said foreign investment was likely to pour into Turkey if membership talks with the EU began.

“The start up of negotiations will dispel any hesitation that European businessmen have toward Turkey,” declared Aldo Kaslowski, president of TUSIAD International, the foreign relations arm of the Turkish Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association.

The developments come after Turkey agreed to a new standby agreement with the IMF. The IMF will provide $10bn in fresh loans to Turkey while postponing $3bn of its debt payments.

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