Cyprus issue would not hinder Turkey’s EU accession process.

Commenting on two articles about Cyprus noted in PACE General Council on June 24, "Rights and fundamental freedoms of Greek Cypriots and Maronites living in the northern part of Cyprus" and "Colonization by Turkish settlers of the occupied part of Cyprus", Mercan said that he was looking into alternatives to prevent the Cyprus problem from derailing Turkey’s EU membership process. He said the Turkish delegation rejected the report "Colonization by Turkish settlers of the occupied part of Cyprus" due to its subjective views and that opening it up to discussion would mean accepting it. Mercan added that while there was no anti-Turkey sentiment in PACE, certain political groups tried hard to pass the report.

There is a "Good Will" Agreement with PACE

Mercan said that as a gesture of good will, PACE has postponed the audit report for Turkey, meant to be put on the agenda and voted on in September, to April of 2004. The Turkish delegation aims for Turkey to be exempt from the CE auditing mechanism. Mercan said the reason for the postponement was to observe the implementation phase of the reforms undertaken by Turkey to fulfill the Copenhagen Criteria. It was taken under consideration that in case of a negative of audit report in September, the auditing term woud be extended by two more years, to 2005. Mercan said that CE Audit Commission would convene in in Istanbul in October and the CE Political Affairs Committee and Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography were also due in Turkey.

Ali Ihsan Aydin / Strasbourg / FRANCE