Cyprus Train is on the Way

The Justice and Development Party (AKP) government was waiting for a ‘meeting invitation.’ That’s why Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas, Prime Minister [Mehmet Ali] Talat and Serdar Denktas, the deputy prime minister and son of President Denktas, were summoned to Ankara on the fourth day of Eid al-Adha [Feast of Sacrfice]. The policies and strategies to be pursued during the negotiations were reviewed. The TRNC administration spent the whole day in Ankara. And Denktas’ explanation was as follows: "We thought, let’s do things if necessary when we are in Ankara. We said, if mutual contacts are necessary let’s do them as well." Denktas received the invitation [to New York] when he was in Ankara.

The TRNC government, including Talat and Denktas Jr., were also invited together with Denktas to the New York meetings. As it was during previous periods, the future of the negotiations is not clear. The negotiations will be conducted within the framework of a certain schedule. The first information received indicated that Annan is determined to finish the negotiations on March 25 and propose an April 21 referendum date.

It is normal to hold the referendum in April. This is because the Cyprus case will change after the Greek side officially becomes an EU member in May. The text to be presented on the referendum does not only include the parts agreed upon. Annan will fill in the blanks on whichever issue a deal cannot not reached. This is one of the conditions to start the negotiations.

The decision to go to New York means that both sides accept this condition. Negotiations will start on February 10 in New York, and then the committees will return to Cyprus and the process will be completed on the island. The Turkish side requested conducting the negotiations on the island.

Denktas will determine the fate of negotiations, hence, all eyes are on him. The TRNC leader had previously considered the Annan Plan quite negatively but he has mellowed now after Turkey’s intervention. When he received the invitation, he delivered a cold message saying, "Time is needed for preparation." Actually it is a matter of curiosity to see up to what point Denktas, who had an uncompromising attitude in the past, will continue his ‘compromising unwilling’ resistance. It is possible to continue until the end or just give up at the halfway stage…

During the talks, the issue of losing land is one of the primary topics on which most discussions will dwell and the polemics will be centered on. The debate even began today. Prime Minister [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan said that he has decided not to make the Cyprus issue a domestic political tool, and that AK Party will not bring the issue to the agenda during local election campaigns and rallies. However, it is impossible not to bring an issue like Cyprus to the agenda during the elections.

Perhaps this is the only issue in which the opposition parties will criticize the AKP government the most. The Annan Plan suggests giving away a small part of TRNC land to the Greeks. Thus, the amount of land the Turkish side land will have is going to decrease from 36 percent to 29 percent. The prime minister clearly stated in his speech at Harvard University that land would be given away in Cyprus. The top foreign policy issue that Turkish Cypriot people are very sensitive about, is the ‘land’ issue. Giving away land is not something acceptable by an ordinary citizen.

The society’s subconsciousness is full of disasters due to losing lands. Turkish people have spent the last four centuries losing lands. The opposition parties will certainly capitalize on this. They will try to hit the AKP at the point where the society is most sensitive about. Giving away land should not be exaggerated. The Anna Plan, that the Turkish side has accepted as a base for negotiations, includes many issues in its nearly 1,000 pages. Land is only an article.

The Turkish side will venture to give away this land only if it receives the right response. There is this case in Denktas’ previous statements as well. Former President Kenan Evren had officially declared that land had been acquired in order to be given back on the table later. These are the Turkish side’s red lines on Cyprus issue: ‘Political equality, equal share of sovereignty, Turkey’s guarantorship and two autonomous entities. Apparently, there is no condition like giving away land among these.

The Cyprus train is on the way. Insallah (God willing), it will safely reach its destiny by overcoming the storms.