Row with Greece solved if Turkey in EU

ATHENS (MSNBC) – Relations between Greece and Turkey have warmed considerably since the two nearly went to war over an uninhabited Aegean Sea outcrop in 1996. Tensions remain over territorial issues and over Cyprus, divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded in response to a Greek Cypriot coup backed by a junta then ruling Greece.

”We are unfortunately hostages of a historical problem. There are national issues like islands, airspace and the militarisation of the islands that we view differently,” said Turkey’s Chief of the General Staff Hilmi Ozkok in an interview with Eleftherotypia daily.

”I think that negotiations are going well and if Turkey’s accession into the EU goes ahead, these problems will be solved in a week.”

The EU will report next month on Turkey’s chances of joining the bloc. Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen has said the report would stress Turkey’s progress but also persistent differences over Cyprus, which is due to join the bloc next May.

”Joining the EU would help tremendously with solving both the Cyprus issue and the problems in the Aegean,” Ozkok said.

The EU hoped Cyprus would reunite before joining and U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan pressed leaders on both sides of the island to back a peace plan creating a loose federation. But Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash has declared the plan dead.

”Cyprus is of great strategic importance and of course we want to see a Cyprus from which we can defend Turkey…And it is not a new issue. It has been like this for decades,” Ozkok said.

The November report on Turkey will be followed by a final report in late 2004 and if Ankara meets a series of targets on economic and political reform and human rights, the EU may set a date for the start of accession talks.