Erdogan pledges support for UN Cyprus solution

Date: 21/11/02

By David Cronin

TURKEY'S unofficial leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan last night pledged his support for negotiations on the UN-sponsored plan for ending the division of Cyprus.

Although the head of the Justice and Development party (AKP) argued the plan's timing was poor because Turkish Cypriot chief Rauf Denktash is recovering from a heart operation, he stressed: 'We are ready to deliberate on [UN Secretary-General] Kofi Annan's plan.'

Visiting Brussels yesterday (20 November), Erdogan acknowledged that Cyprus and the impasse over EU access to NATO assets are linked to his country's efforts to start talks on joining the Union. 'There is no point in hiding,' he said.

EU leaders are hoping Erdogan can help achieve a breakthrough on Cyprus and on the defence deal before the Union's Copenhagen summit (12-13 December). It has been suggested that Turkey could be given a date for starting accession talks as a reward for such a breakthrough.

But Romano Prodi was noncommittal at a news conference last night. Although the Commission president welcomed the democratic reforms introduced by Turkey in August, he said: 'Not only must decisions be taken, they must also be implemented.'

While Erdogan's moderate Islamic party swept to victory on 3 November, he is barred from becoming prime minister due to a conviction for inciting religious hatred.

Currently on a whistle-stop tour of EU capitals, he said he expects the Copenhagen summit to name a date for his country to start membership talks. 'We do not look at the EU as a Christian club,' he remarked. 'But if the results are negative, then some provocative thought might develop of the European Union being a club of Christian countries.'

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the head of Turkey's Justice and Development Party (AKP), has pledged his support for negotiations on the UN-sponsored plan for ending the division of Cyprus.