European Union’s Message

Despite intense last-minute lobbying by Ankara, the EU Commission refused to alter the sentence, and the full report, parts of which were previously leaked to the press, was officially released yesterday. It states that Turkish membership could face ‘a serious obstacle’ if Cyprus is not reunited before next May, when Greek Cyprus is due to join the Union. However, the members of the commission also underlined that resolution of the Cyprus problem isn’t strictly a precondition for Turkey’s beginning of its membership talks.

At first glance, these statements may seem contradictory. If the EU commission doesn’t see resolution of the Cyprus problem as a precondition, then what’s this talk about ‘a serious obstacle’? In fact, the commission members are trying to highlight that although the Cyprus issue doesn’t constitute an obstacle in principle, Turkey is likely to face problems in practice unless it’s resolved before May. Similar warnings have been made previously by various EU commissioners, which is why it should come as no surprise this time around.

Now Ankara should concentrate on this fact: The EU Commission is determined to put pressure on Turkey to reach a permanent settlement on the island. If we fail to make progress by May, our hopes of starting membership talks next December are very likely to be blocked. One can argue that this recent situation contradicts previous EU documents, including the Helsinki Declaration. Turkey has always argued that the settlement of Cyprus issue should be seen as a separate issue. However, under the current circumstances, it’s clear that there’s a ‘de facto’ connection between the two issues. Now Turkey will either buck this situation, risking damage to its relations with the EU, or else will go on making moves on its path towards full membership without paying too much mind to this fact.

This is a political decision to be made by Ankara. According to official sources, our government seems to be determined to launch new initiatives and new efforts in the coming months to help achieve a permanent settlement on the island. We hope these efforts will begin as soon as possible.

As a matter of fact, this year’s progress report shows that now the EU has a more positive and constructive position on Turkey’s membership when compared to past. Therefore, we shouldn’t ruin this positive atmosphere by focusing on only one sentence, to the exclusion of the report’s positive aspects.”