Greece and Greek Cyprus Use the EU to Make Pressure on Turkey
By Nurettin M. SAGLAM (JTW) - The Greek Cyprus and Greece on Sunday urged Turkey to meet its ‘obligations’ set by a negotiating framework with the European Union on its entry bid or face suspension or cancellation of its European course while Turkey does not see recognition of Greek Cyprus as an obligation in the EU process. Turkey argues that the EU and the Greek side should not neglect more than 200.000 Turkish Cypriots living on the island. “There are two governments on the island and both sides should be considered” said a Turkish diplomat.
Visiting Greek President Karolos Papoulias and Greek Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos issued the warning jointly after the talks. Speaking to
the press, the two ‘presidents’ reiterated their common stance on resumption of peace negotiations between the Greek Cypriot south and the Turkish Cypriot north under the UN auspices to reach a settlement without any foreign arbitration or tight timetables.
Papoulias said the European Union would monitor Turkey's European course on the basis of the negotiating framework that was adopted by all 25 member states earlier this month, adding that if Turkey does not fulfill the commitments set by the negotiating framework, the consequences could lead to cancellation of EU-Turkey relations. Turkish media blames the Greek Cyprus of abusing the EU-Turkey relations for its own interests. The Greek Cypriots politicians declared after the 3 October Decision that they will always against Turkey in any issue in the EU.
Papoulias called on the EU to press Turkey to withdraw its troops from northern Cyprus. The Turkish North has to rely on Turkey’s security guarantees while the Greek South has a strong army with long-range missiles. The Greek side spends a huge budget on military. Greek Cyprus’ armed forces, the National Guard, announced Friday that it will hold its annual military man oeuvre "Nikiforos" on Oct. 18-23, with the participation of reservists and militiamen. The United Nations, Washington and London had all encouraged the exercises not to take place so as not to worsen tensions in the region. The Turkish side has done no military exercise since then.