Turkish Cypriots warn Union: don’t accept a divided country

Date: 03/05/01

By Simon Taylor.

A senior Turkish Cypriot official has warned of a "spiral of escalation" if Cyprus joins the European Union before divisions between the two communities are resolved.

Ergün Olgun, under-secretary to Turkish Cypriot President Rauf Denktash, said that admitting Cyprus to the EU before resolving the island's divisions would have unforeseeable consequences.

"You do not know where things would lead," Olgun warned. The official, who is visiting foreign ministry officials in national capitals including Belgium, claimed there was a "new awareness in European capitals of the nightmare scenario of admitting Cyprus before an agreement".

If the island was to join without the divisions being resolved it would lead to a "spiral of escalation which would not help the EU's interests," he claimed.

The timing of Olgun's visit to Brussels is significant, given increasing reports that the EU is starting to examine the prospect of taking in a divided Cyprus because of pessimism about reaching a deal before the first wave of enlargement.

Belgium is expected to launch an intensive debate on the issue during its six-month Presidency of the EU, which starts in July.

Olgun said the purpose of his visit was to dispel the "misconception" in European capitals that the Turkish Cypriots were not interested in a negotiated settlement with the Greek Cypriots. "The message is that the Turkish Cypriots are very interested in a new partnership," he said. But this new partnership had to recognise the right to self-determination of the two peoples on the island with both having equal status.

Olgun said that the Greek Cypriots had no right to claim to represent both communities on the island, as they were doing in accession negotiations with the EU.

Efforts by the United Nations to broker talks between the sides broke down in January after Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash pulled out of negotiations unless he was recognised as an equal partner with Greek Cypriot President Glafcos Clerides.

The Greek Cypriots argue that Denktash is blocking a solution by rejecting UN proposals which involved a federation of the two communities rather than a looser confederation which Denktash is seeking.

Asked whether efforts at finding a solution might be helped by better relations between the EU and Turkey, Olgun said: "If there is closer integration it would stimulate the process for partnership."

But he was cautious over suggestions that the opening of accession negotiations with Ankara would ease the way for admitting a divided Cyprus, saying: "It would be useful but it would not be a determinant factor."

Olgun also played down speculation that Belgium had offered constitutional experts to help find a legal solution to the dispute, drawing on its own arrangements to satisfy the competing demands of its French, Flemish and German language communities.

"Belgium has valuable experience but we can't just copy (it). There are lessons which can be drawn from each experience for Cyprus, there are lessons which can be taken from Belgium." But he added that any effort which would prepare the ground for an "equal inducement for both parties" to find a solution would be useful. EU leaders agreed at the

Helsinki summit in December 2000 that the failure to resolve the Cyprus situation should not be a barrier to admitting the island to the Union. But they urged both sides to work for a deal.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops occupied the northern part of the island, a move which the Turks claims was justified to protect their citizens against a Greek Cypriot coup.

A senior Turkish Cypriot official has warned of a 'spiral of escalation' if Cyprus joins the European Union before divisions between the two communities are resolved.