EU to reward Turks after Cyprus vote

Reuters ^ | 4/26/2004 | Sebastian Alison

[a_Turk]

LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - Voicing exasperation at Greek Cypriots for rejecting a U.N. plan to reunite their island, the European Union is looking for ways to reward the minority Turkish Cypriots for backing the plan.

EU foreign ministers vented their frustration at Saturday's split referendum result as they arrived in Luxembourg on Monday for their last meeting before the bloc enlarges to admit 10 new members -- including a still divided Cyprus -- next Saturday.

"We're all profoundly disappointed that this historic opportunity has been lost," EU External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten told reporters.

"I don't think the leadership of the Greek Cypriot community have behaved well, to put it mildly -- gagging (European) commissioners' attempts to speak in the community and so on."

Patten said he hoped the EU would be able to agree rapidly on measures to prevent the economic isolation of the Turkish Cypriot community, subject to crippling trade restrictions since the 1974 Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus.

"There's a widespread understanding that given that the Turkish Cypriots voted so overwhelmingly in favour of an EU-U.N. plan, they certainly should not be worsted as a result of decisions taken elsewhere," British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said.

The roughly 200,000 Turkish Cypriots backed by a two-thirds majority U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's blueprint for a loose federation with wide autonomy for the two communities, but nearly 76 percent of the 600,000 Greek Cypriots voted against.

Their vote effectively killed the peace plan for now, with the paradoxical effect that only the internationally recognised Greek Cypriots will join the EU this week.

EASING RESTRICTIONS

The ministers were expected to issue a statement regretting it was not possible for a united Cyprus to join the bloc and sending a strong political message accepting the expressed will of the Turkish Cypriots to join the EU, diplomats said.

They would also praise Turkey for its constructive role in the process -- a small boost for its own bid to open EU accession talks next year.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen, who worked hard to avoid the EU importing the 30-year-old conflict, told Deutschlandfunk radio: "The overall result is extremely negative for both sides."

Verheugen, who accused Greek Cypriot leaders last week of tricking him by pretending to support reunification only to turn against it and campaign for a referendum "no", said there was no question of punishing the Greek Cypriots for their vote.

But the executive Commission would propose ways to aid northern Cyprus and loosen the trade restrictions.

Seeking to pre-empt more far-reaching EU measures, the Greek Cypriot government on Monday proposed opening the EU market to mining materials and all agricultural and fisheries products from northern Cyprus, but not to goods with Turkish input.

Nicosia also suggested releasing some 259 million euros earmarked by the EU to aid northern Cyprus in case of a settlement, and increasing the number of crossing points on the "green line" dividing the island.

But diplomats said that at a meeting of EU ambassadors Britain, France and the European Commission said they wanted more concessions and adjourned the negotiations until Wednesday.

The diplomats said EU states were seeking measures such as opening northern Cyprus to direct international flights and shipping and allocating some of the EU aid that had been set aside to help reunite the island.

The European Parliament has already decided to investigate the conduct of the Greek Cypriot referendum following a complaint from a Greek Cypriot opposition leader.

[a_Turk]

ping..

[Hermann the Cherusker]

Any recognition of Turkish occupied Northern Cyprus is a reward for agressive war by Muslims against Christians. The proper solution is the expulsion of the Turkish Army and illegal settlers, by force if necessary.

I also recall that Turks were only 17% of the population around 1970. How is it they are now 25%? Does this include all the illegal settlements by mainland Turks in the north?

Why is it that Greece never gets a fair shake from the US?

[GeronL]

Vote buying... now thats Democratic.... not

[FormerLib]

Any recognition of Turkish occupied Northern Cyprus is a reward for agressive war by Muslims against Christians.

The same sort of capitulation is being considered for the terrorist KLA in Kosovo. When people speak of partitioning Kosovo, they are talking about rewarding the terrorism with someone else's land.

Haven't they learned that appeasement just doesn't work?

[MegaSilver]

The EU and Turkey need to be punished for trying to push this on Cyprus.

[Turk2]

What are you talking about?

It was the Greek orchetrated coup and following massacre and displacement of the Turkish population on the island that sparked Turkish intervention in 1974.

How has screwing Muslims become so popular these days? Can't you live without a scapegoat to blame all your troubles on?

It is Britain and the US that have fed fundamentalist Islam for all these years when Turkey had been fighting against it since the beginning of the 19th century. Wahhabism, for instance, was stirred up by the British to weaken the Ottoman Empire and take control of Egypt and oil rich Arabian lands.

[a_Turk]

That's alright, let the pathetic ignorants vent. I enjoy their worthless assertions, actually..

[wtc911]

Not democratic but very turkish. Anything that moves turkey closer to EU acceptance just hastens the demise of Old Europe as a cultural entity.

[Hermann the Cherusker]

I believe the Greek Cypriots, then 83% of the islands population, were fully within their rights to want and seek union with Greece. They were after all both part of the East Roman Empire together before their long dark night of Turkish occupation and opression. And it was Turkish policies, culminating in a war of agression with concomittant violations of the Geneva Convetion which prevented that.

The Turkish Cypriots would have been treated quite fairly as Greek citizens, just like the Turks in Greece are today. Greeks in Turkey, on the other hand, have been in the crosshairs for extermination, extirpation, and expropriation for only about 1000 years sicne Mazinkert.

The saddest part is that a huge number of Turks are merely Turkified Greeks. You folks are really killing and opressing your own kith and kin to support an opressive militaristic state run by a gang of ruthless thugs and cuthroats.

At least the Wahhabisists are honest about their hatred for the west and Christianity. The Turks have this complex were they need to pretend to be modern and non-fundementalist even as they continue down the bad old ways of opression started with the Jannisary laws.

[Hermann the Cherusker]

Haven't they learned that appeasement just doesn't work?

It works when the goal is the destruction of Orthodox Christian lands.

Maybe you are confused about your goal and the goal of these evil men being the same thing. I'm not.

[Hermann the Cherusker]

Haven't they learned that appeasement just doesn't work?

It works when the goal is the destruction of Orthodox Christian lands.

Maybe you are confused about your goal and the goal of these evil men being the same thing. I'm not.

[Hermann the Cherusker]

How has screwing Muslims become so popular these days? Can't you live without a scapegoat to blame all your troubles on?

To scape goat would be affixing blame to the party which does not deserve it. In this case, it appears pretty plainly to me and the rest of the world that the party responsible for dividing Cyprus and commiting numerous violations of internationally recognized civil rights is the Turkish Army. Its not like the Greek Army invaded there and caused the Turks to come in, is it?

The party comitting illegal agression in another country always dreams up a million excuses why the resort to war and expulsion is justified.

[aristotleman]

I believe that the EU needs to pour money into the north to bring up the standard of living there. The conditions are dismal, as I witnessed with my own eyes -for the people that is. The leadership, and those surrounding it, are living in luxury. There is also a strong divide between "native" turkish-cypriots and turk immigrants. Usually, the natives enjoy a higher standard of living, are bilingual, and wish to reunite with the greeks. Many immigrants on the other hand, keep to themselves live in poverty and want partition.

On the greek side, there are those who believe that turks don't belong in Cyprus, and only want to live with turkish-cypriots. There are also those that can live with everyone in the north.

The strongest feeling that I've seen is that greeks don't want to have to pay to increase the standard of living in the north.

[a_Turk]

>> Its not like the Greek Army invaded there and caused the Turks to come in, is it?

That in fact was done covertly. We acted within our rights under the treaty signed at Cyprus' inception.

[a_Turk]

>> The strongest feeling that I've seen is that greeks don't want to have to pay to increase the standard of living in the north.

Once the embargo is dropped we'll send money to the south..

[aristotleman]

The embargo will be dropped in the coming months, as it should. What's your vision of a fair solution given the climate?

[Mortimer Snavely]

"Britain and the US that have fed fundamentalist Islam for all these years when Turkey had been fighting against it since the beginning of the 19th century. Wahhabism, for instance, was stirred up by the British to weaken the Ottoman Empire and take control of Egypt and oil rich Arabian lands."

Such comments are entirely too complicated for most of the participants on these threads. Unless any particular issue can be reduced to a comic book like simplicity, it's too difficult to understand.

The idea that one can be a Muslim and be in a fight to the death with Islamism is entirely too complex a concept for most here.

[Mortimer Snavely]

You really do scribble a lot of tosh, you know.

[a_Turk]

Live together like brothers and sisters. Life is too short.

Let whoever wants to fight go to one of the desert islands around there, givem enough ammo and let them have at each other. Then whoever is left standing you and I put down..