Reuniting Europe

Is Turkish accession ambition sustainable?

Posted by Georgi Gotev on 24/11/09
Tags: accession negotiations, Ankara Protocol, Cyprus, turkey

Asking this question, I am using the language of the Turkish chief negotiator Egemen Bagiş. He says that his country’s negotiating process should be ’sustainable’ and advocates benchmarks, allowing chapters to be opened, negotiated and the closed, insted of either being blocked once opened, or prevented from opening.

However I am not sure whether he sees his country’s commitments under the Ankara Protocol as part of these benchmarks. Recently Bagiş told me that that stalled negotiations on Turkey’s EU accession can be unblocked swiftly if the Cyprus talks make headway. Turkey is an important stakeholder to this talks and everybody knows the talks will move forward if Ankara allows it.

Here I come back to my question.

English, Enlargement & Neighbours, Turkish, enlargement
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2 Responses to Is Turkish accession ambition sustainable? »»

Dimitris

Comment by Dimitris | 2009/12/15 at 01:08:27

Turkey accesion doesn’t seem to lead anywhere among others because of Cyprus. Turkey wants to stay the guarantator to an EU country believe it or not, as if we leave in the colonial past. They say that there will a new plan proposed for the unification of Cyprus next year. But if Turkey is stated to play the guarantator again for Cyprus as in 2004 it will be disqualified of course by the Greek-Cypriots (not by the Turkish settlers).
For those who don’t know Turkey is the one who is still violating the trilateral agreement of London and Zurich with UK and Greece, by having Turkish army there and partitioning the island. Also they illegally set Turkish settlers there, to change the demographic data of the island. (Nice guarantator it was in the first place.)

The Turkish-Cypriot president has the same opinion as Turkey, so it is impossible if the Turkish position doesn’t change. Turkey wants to enter the EU while it has chronic disagreements with two EU countries Greece and Cyprus with no intention of solving them properly. Well Turkey will somewhere along the road to EU will have to find out that upholding the international law and good neightbourly relations are essential to EU. And then the choice is theirs. EU supports dialog doesn’t mean it will put up with Turkey’s nationalistic mindset otherwise it will fall apart.
Fanci

Comment by Fanci | 2010/01/11 at 15:30:34

I think that taking the one-sided view of Cypriots is not very helpfull.

First, Cyprus entered Europe in contradiction with several laws but mostly about the effective control of borders. To circumvent the problem, it has been then proclaimed that members of the turkish community on the island would be european citizens with no effective rights but to soften the bit would be allowed direct flights / shipping with Europe in exchange for the Ankara protocol.

Once Cyprus entered, Cypriots decided the Ankara protocol would become a one-way contract and this with the support of France, Germany and the likes. So to answer your question (Is that really a criteria for accession): No.

Once borders of Greek Cyprus are modified or UN plan for a Unified Cyprus are accepted things will go back to normal.