Something is changing… or is it?

The separatism in the progress report released by the European Commission also annoyed many liberals. Some were even angry with the release of the "minority report" in the name of the Prime Ministry.

The government did not shrink from criticizing the EU and the United States for the continuing isolation of the KKTC. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s criticism of French President Jacques Chirac’s support of the referendum to French newspapers in the context of the progress report also created a stir. He also failed to endorse the minority report prepared on behalf of the Prime Ministry.

After the European Court of Human Rights’ decision on the headscarf issue and the debate on adultery, religious sections in society realized that it would not be getting what it expected from the EU on the matters of secularism and religious freedom and began to discuss EU membership’s true pros and cons.

At last, the power of those who demanded the protection of Turkey’s fundamental rights and interests has visibly increased. This way, society gets the opportunity to begin a more active debate on the EU’s membership negotiation process.

The EU is putting pressure on Greek Cypriots — who rejected the Annan plan — not to prevent Turkey getting a date to begin negotiations on Dec. 17. Despite this, the Greek Cypriot leadership that has increased the force of its threat to veto the negotiations if Turkey does not recognize them, goes too far and they may tie their own hands. However, they must know that if they use their veto on Dec. 17, they will not only lose any chance in being recognized, but they will also destroy any possibility of a solution on the island.

At this juncture, some, including a few Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputies, have started to argue that we can’t progress in the negotiations without recognizing the EU-member Greek Cypriots, while stressing the need to accept this unfortunate fact of life.

In foreign affairs, one needs to make a correct analysis of what the opposite side wants. KKTC Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat says that the Greek Cypriot Progressive Party of the Working People (AKEL), which was supposed to vote for the Annan plan, decided to vote against it 15 days before the referendum. Why did they change their position; I wonder?

In the 1999 Helsinki summit statement, it was said that if the Aegean problems were not resolved by the end of 2004, the matter would be taken to the European Court of Justice in The Hague. However, it appears that Greece has no intention of going to The Hague. Why are they running away from justice?

With the start of the accession negotiation, we will begin receiving economic aid from the EU and will implement a serious harmonization program. Soon after, our membership process will pass the point of no return. It appears the Greek Cypriots and the Greeks believe they will be able to get more from us during this process than they would with the Annan plan or from the European Court of Justice in The Hague.

In foreign politics, we can’t decide on what we are going to do without knowing what we want. At first glance, it may appear that the decision to recognize the Greek Cypriots as the "Republic of Cyprus" might be a spur of the moment judgment without any long-term consequences. However, the recognition will not end with this and will become a process lasting years. A portion of the media and the business world may not pass over this matter with a "Thank God we took care of that" campaign.

Legally, we can’t recognize either the Greek Cypriots or the KKTC. By recognizing the Greek Cypriots, we will be disassociating ourselves from the KKTC. As a result, we will be accepting the regime that violently overthrew the 1960 system in 1963 and abused the Turks until 1974 as legitimate. The state structure of the KKTC will enter a process of disintegration and we will start withdrawing our military from the island, which will become an illegal occupation force. Together with the settlers the Turkish Cypriots, who will feel abandoned, will start migrating to Turkey. Greek Cypriots will begin to seize their properties in the north. A similar process will begin in the Aegean and we will be forced to yield to Greek demands there too.

Can Turkey tolerate such a tragedy, with every day bringing another unfortunate development, for years? What will the consequences of such submissive behavior be in the Southeast or towards Armenian demands? Won’t the seriousness of the domestic crisis we will face continue beyond the political future of the AKP?

If we are not going to accept this, we need to make this absolutely clear, together with possible ways out. I believe we might be able to pull it off.