Greek Veto Threat at the Last Minute
Reportedly, the focus point of the negotiations was a ‘veto threat’ by Greece. According to sources, Greece opposed to a conciliation that would make negotiation conditions a ‘primary law’ of the European Union (EU).
The Greek delegation announced that it will veto the approval process in the E.U. member country parliaments.
While the Greek side might be creating this ‘crisis’ to strengthen the Greek’s hand in bargaining, serious negotiations took place up until the last minute.
Within this context, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul held a four-way meeting with their Greek counterparts, Kostas Karamanlis and Petros Moliviatis respectively.
Erdogan also met E.U. Enlargement Commissioner, Günther Verheugen, who conveyed the Greek threat to the Turkish side. Verheugen met Karamanlis as well. Meanwhile, U.N. Cyprus Special Representative Alvaro De Soto negotiated with TRNC and Greek leaders.
It was expected that the Turkish diplomats, who did not sleep last night because of the time limitation for the agreement, would continue intensely through this morning.
Besides, there was the anticipation that a revised plan would be distributed last night.
Meanwhile, Moliviatis made a phone call to his American counterpart, Colin Powell. It was said that the U.S. might strongly intervene as a "facilitative pressure" in the last critical hours.
