‘We Will not Recognize Greek Cyprus Without a Solution’

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul responded to criticism that the negotiation date was granted in exchange for recognition of Greek Cyprus by saying recognition would not be considered until a permanent solution is found to the Cyprus issue. Turkey will not sign any protocol with the Greek Cypriots in a joint meeting, said Gul, as the protocol of the Customs Union Agreement will be signed with the European Commission on behalf of the European Union (EU). He also said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan made sure the minutes of the summit reflected that Turkey does not recognize Greek Cypriots. Gul said: "Nobody should overshadow this great event. Those who try to do so lack vision." Gul said the EU’s Dutch Term President, Jan Peter Balkanende, confirmed that Turkey’s actions do not constitute recognition. Erdogan and Gul briefed Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer about the summit yesterday.

Greek Cypriot leader Tasos Papadopulous has also faced criticism about the summit and said Turkey’s extension guarantee to sign the Customs Union agreement protocol including ten new member states was a precondition to beginning negotiations. Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis said they succeeded in connecting Turkey’s EU aims to its position on the Greek Cypriot administration.

Turkish Foreign Minister Gul said in an interview with Kanal 7, a Turkish television channel, that Prime Minister Erdogan has made it clear to United Nations (UN) Secretary General Kofi Annan that he should work on the Cyprus issue. Gul went on to say that the Greek Cypriot Administration is one of the 25 member EU that Turkey is trying to enter.

Gul explained: "The document we will be signing is a protocol documenting the Customs Union operations and its context for the EU and Turkey. This protocol will be signed with the EU commission which will represent the 25 members of the EU. Representatives of the Greek Cypriot administration that we do not recognize will not be sitting in front of us and Turkey will not sign anything with the Greek Cypriots. Our government has acted very cautiously to prevent even an indirect recognition. Turkey has also told the EU that it is signing a Customs Union Agreement with the EU and that relations will continue, but that the EU should not forget that the conflict with one of its 25 members has not ended, a solution has not been found and having a relationship does not mean recognition."

In a post-summit evaluation, Gul was asked if he would have wanted to leave the summit if the decision had been converse. Gul said, "If they had not reached the situation we desired, we really would have returned." We reminded them that we had two planes saying, ‘we also have one more small plane. We did not bring it for nothing,’ we said. We also said, ‘you know when we say yes or no, one of your partners has the right to veto, if they want, they can use it.’ If we had left, the enthusiasm would have been greater and the streets would have been more crowded, but this would not have been beneficial to Turkey.’ Gul said that Turkey will do its best to solve the Cypriot issue and added that they were prepared for that. Gul expressed that Turkey was different before and after the EU summit. He said from now on, Turkey will enter a stable period and without interim regimes and incidents that would lead to intervention. He concluded that this situation will be reflected in the economy.