3 December 2004

1. "Iraq, Turkey agree on curbing Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq", Iraq and Turkey agree Turkish Kurd rebels should be stopped from using Iraqi territory for their activities, Iraqi Vice President Ibrahim al-Jafari said here Thursday, quoted by the Anatolia news agency.

2. "Four suspended for Kiziltepe tragedy", Interior Ministry and police initiate investigation into the police operation that resulted in the murder of a 12-year-old boy and his father.

3. "Turkish minority digs in its heels against drive to join the EU", a sub-headline in Wednesday's edition of Ortadogu [Middle East], the newspaper of Turkey's hardline Ntionalist Action party (MHP), read: "Another outrageous demand from the EU". It was above a report claiming that some members of the European Union were demanding that Turkey open talks with Kurdish rebels.

4. "Now it's time to talk Turkey", the world awaits a crucial EU decision on December 17.

5. "Europe's stake in Turkey", more than 100 years ago Czar Nicholas I of Russia dubbed Turkey "the sick man of Europe" because the ailing Ottoman Empire seemed at death's door. Today Turks say, "We may have been sick, but at least we were considered part of Europe."

6. "'Islam problem' baffles Turkey", the BBC's Istanbul correspondent Jonny Dymond examines the influence of Islam in modern Turkey, ahead of a key European Union summit on 17 December to decide whether Ankara can open EU accession talks.

7. "Turkey to Reform Water Policy", as an EU candidate, Turkey must harmonise its laws with those of the Union. The country is preparing to reform its tight policy on transboundary rivers and water resources in order to comply with EU criteria and international law.

8. "Turkey's Gul: No Recognition without Cyprus Solution", Ankara has clearly rejected the call by the European Union (EU) for Turkey to recognize the Greek Cypriot administration before the December 17th Summit where a decision on when to begin membership negotiations with Turkey will be made.

1. - AFP - "Iraq, Turkey agree on curbing Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq":

ANKARA / 2 December 2004

Iraq and Turkey agree Turkish Kurd rebels should be stopped from using Iraqi territory for their activities, Iraqi Vice President Ibrahim al-Jafari said here Thursday, quoted by the Anatolia news agency.

"We are expending efforts to resolve the security problem as soon as possible," Jafari was quoted as saying.

The Baghdad government will not allow the use of Iraqi territory for any "terrorist" activity and will cooperate with its neighbors to establish security, al-Jafari said.

Turkey has long complained to both Baghdad and the United States of the lack of action against an estimated 4,500 to 5,000 Kurdish rebels -- some of whom are reported to have returned to Turkey -- who found refuge in the mountains of northern Iraq before the US invasion of the country.

Al-Jafari said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan again raised the issue again when the two met here Wednesday.

Ankara says the rebels, members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), receive military training in camps in northern Iraq and then sneak back into Turkey to conduct attacks on government targets.

The PKK, now also known as KONGRA-GEL, has waged a 15-year armed campaign for self-rule in mainly Kurdish southeastern Turkey.

The group, considered a terrorist organization by Ankara as well as the United States and the European Union, ended a five-year unilateral ceasefire with Turkish sescurity forces in June.

2. - Turkish Daily News - "Four suspended for Kiziltepe tragedy":

Interior Ministry and police initiate investigation into the police operation that resulted in the murder of a 12-year-old boy and his father.

ANKARA / 3 December 2004

Mardin Deputy Police Chief Kemal Dönmez and three members of the Special Forces have been suspended, awaiting the end of the investigation into the murder of 12-year-old Ugur Kaymaz and his father Ahmet Kaymaz, conducted by Interior Ministry inspectors and police.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking on the NTV news channel, said on Wednesday: “Describing a boy aged 12 as a terrorist is unfortunate. This can’t happen.”

Mardin Governor Temel Koçaklar said that the father and son were both terrorists. Erdogan said that the investigation into the incident continues, adding that they would be doing what’s appropriate after the conclusion of the investigation.

Charges filed by Diyarbakir Bar Association for ‘Kiziltepe Operation’

Approximately 100 lawyers registered at the Diyarbakir and Batman Bar Associations and filed charges relating to an operation conducted on Nov. 21, resulting in the deaths of Ahmet Kaymaz (30) and his 12-year-old son Ugur Kaymaz, who were suspected of being terrorists.

Tahir Elçi, who was among the 20 lawyers that filed charges, held a press conference in front of the Diyarbakir Court of Law, claiming that a shepherd in Semdinli, Hakkâri had been shot by security forces.

Elçi emphasized how worrisome these events were especially on the eve of the EU Dec. 17 summit. He also stated that, “the ruling party was very assertive on the issues of democratization and human rights. However, these events or the violation of human rights we are daily encountering shows that the government isn’t committed on this issue. According to the information, we, as the Diyarbakir and Batman Bar Associations have combined our forces to show there is serious evidence suggesting that the murder of Ahmet Kaymaz and Ugur Kaymaz is an extra-judicial killing.”

Elçi said that with the right given to them by the Lawyers Code, they would like to participate in the case as joint attorneys.

Elçi emphasized that, “as a precaution, all security personnel sharing responsibility for this incident should be demoted and the authorities should perform an independent investigation to prove their sincerity in the declarations they made to the European Court of Human Rights.”

After the press statement in front of the court, 50 members from the Democratic People’s Party (DEHAP), held a rally in front of the Atatürk monument to condemn the killings, while carrying banners reading, “If Ugur is a terrorist, so are we.”

3. - Financial Times - "Turkish minority digs in its heels against drive to join the EU":

3 December 2004 / by Vincent Boland

A sub-headline in Wednesday's edition of Ortadogu [Middle East], the newspaper of Turkey's hardline Nationalist Action party (MHP), read: "Another outrageous demand from the EU".

It was above a report claiming that some members of the European Union were demanding that Turkey open talks with Kurdish rebels.

In the tidal wave of pro-EU sentiment in Turkey's media, politics and business, Ortadogu stands out by being opposed to membership. Opinion polls show that 70 per cent of Turks favour joining the EU. Yet the paper, which appeals to extreme Turkish nationalists, is not alone.

While leading figures in France, Germany and Austria oppose Turkey's membership, there are also high-profile voices - in academia and think-tanks - inside Turkey who are hostile to the idea. There is no united campaign, and their opposition is more reasoned than Ortadogu's - but no less passionate.

These voices reject the "eurosceptic" label in what is sometimes the British sense of being opposed to everything to do with the EU. They subscribe to "European" ideals as the best way for Turkey to achieve modernity.

But they consider that neither Brussels nor Ankara is being honest in setting the goal of full membership, because the EU may not be able to deliver it and Turkey may not be able to live with the concessions required to achieve it. And they believe they will be vindicated in time.

"I'm not a British-type eurosceptic and I'm not anti-EU or a diehard nationalist," says Hasan Unal, a professor of international relations at Bilkent University in Ankara, who is perhaps the most prominent figure arguing against full membership.

"My position is that I have come to the view that Turkey's membership is not going to materialise in the foreseeable future and that membership is not going to be as beneficial today as it would have been 10 or 15 years ago."

He considers that the membership process is damaging Turkey's interests, given the concessions it has had to make over issues such as Cyprus or Kurdish nationalism to arrive at the point where the EU may, on December 17, offer it a date next year for negotiations to begin.

If the process takes 10 to 15 years, as even the most ardent supporters of Turkish membership accept, Turkey may be forced to concede even more.

"The EU project", Mr Unal says, "is an opportunity for every country with a grievance against Turkey to come and pinch a piece of it."

He lists Greece, Armenia and Cyprus among those that have wrung concessions out of Turkey or might expect to do so, whether over territorial Aegean waters or Armenians' claims of genocide against the Ottoman empire, or the withdrawal of Turkish settlers from Cyprus.

He, and others, also consider that it is only natural for French intellectuals or German politicians to balk at the prospect of Turkey's membership, given its size, poverty and booming population, and that these objections do not get an honest hearing in Turkey.

"You've been running the EU for 50 years and suddenly this poor, huge country turns up, grabs all the resources and starts telling you how to run it. Of course you'd be hostile," he says.

Gunduz Aktan, chairman of the Centre for Eurasian Studies, a think-tank in Ankara, argues that Turkey ought not to be too surprised, or too offended, if the EU is unable to agree on December 17 to set a date for the entry process to begin.

"This is a very long-term project," he says. "There are many arguments for and against Turkish membership, but an artificially forced acceptance will not be good either for Turkey or for the EU."

For Turkish sceptics of full EU membership a "privileged partnership", based on the country's existing customs union with the EU, is an ideal alternative.

That would allow the EU to complete its political project and integrate those European countries awaiting membership.

Only when Turkey knows what Europe will eventually look like should it consider becoming a full member. "Then we can see if a full marriage is possible," Mr Unal says.

4. - Embassy - "Now it's time to talk Turkey":

The world awaits a crucial EU decision on December 17

1 December 2004 / by Peter Schneider

On December 16 and 17, representatives of the 25 nations of the European Union will convene in Brussels to decide on whether it is now time for Turkey to begin negotiations for membership. If Turkey is given a green light, formal talks that could last the better part of a decade will commence. If the

talks prove successful, the country, which has served for centuries as the bridge between Europe and Asia, will become the EU's most populous member, with its largest army. In recent years, Turkey has embarked upon a rapid and ambitious series of institutional reforms to come in line with the criteria for EU membership, and the government of Prime Minister Recep Erdogan has staked its credibility on the opening of EU membership talks. Turkey's ambassador to Canada, Aydemir Erman, met with Embassy on Nov. 22 to discuss his country's aspirations for the future, as a full member of an enlarged European Union.

In recent weeks, some European leaders, including French President Jacques Chirac, have suggested alternatives to offering Turkey standard membership in the European Union. This is not in line with Turkish expectations, as the ambassador explains."From the very beginning, our intention was to integrate fully with the European Union," Mr. Erman says. "We never had it in our minds to become another type of member. I don't think there's any reason to change this policy, especially as we've come now to a very important crossroad. The report of the EU commission is very clear: whenever we talk about membership, we're talking about full membership. Turkey has fulfilled the Copenhagen political criteria. Turkey can begin the accession negotiations -- I don't know the exact wording -- but as soon as possible. In that context, there is no reference to any other sort of membership."

The ambassador concedes that some anxiety on the part of existing EU members is expected. "It's a big event," he acknowledges. "It will have a serious impact on the European Union and on Turkey. There are certain concerns, but in democratic societies, it's quite normal to have different views that must be expressed. But there's an obligation under international law to fulfill your obligations stemming from international agreements, so in this respect the parties have to some extent committed to one another. Turkey applied for full membership and has accepted on the basis of certain conditions. The commission says that one of the basic conditions are the Copenhagen criteria, which have been fulfilled."

Mr. Erman sketches in a vision of the future, in which Turkey, with its military might and strategic geographical location, becomes an essential asset to an enlarged Europe. He notes, "One thing that makes the European Union different from the rest is that it's going to become an example of integration. They have completed the economic aspect of that -- it's unique. Nowhere in the world can you see the single market, the single currency, and the range of agreement on economic and social issues. But in order to complete the integration, I believe the political and the defence/security aspects of that integration must be completed. Without that, I don't think it will be very easy for the European Union to declare itself a world player. Is the EU going to be a world player or not? It has to be able to see beyond this box -- politically, culturally, economically, whatever -- it has to interact with the rest of the world. From that point of view, I see Turkey as a real bridge. Turkey is a way to open the EU to the outside. If it is to become a world player, I think Turkey must be there, and Turkey's ambition will be an asset for the European Union."

Still, some European politicians continue to voice concerns that Turkey's democratic culture is too recent, and perhaps too fragile, to admit the country into the Union. Responding to this, the ambassador says, "Certain situations emerging in certain time brackets in our history should not have any impact on the accession process. In this process we must be able to see beyond the horizon. I make a distinction between politicians and statesmen. A statesman is able to see beyond the horizon, to see beyond tomorrow. It is the statesmen who have drawn the road map of the European Union. I think understanding, at the end, will prevail."

Speaking about the failure of the United Nations-sponsored referendum in April of 2004, which attempted to resolve the decades-old division of Cyprus, where 30,000 Turkish troops remain stationed, the ambassador says, "It's been an unfortunate year. I think the general conception was that maybe it would be the Turkish part of the island that would reject it, but just the opposite happened. I see it as a lost opportunity. If this opportunity had been grabbed and utilized, then things would have been totally different. Of course, the EU is very careful not to import problems into its ranks. We were always told that reunifying Cyprus was not a condition membership, but we knew, under the surface, that it was kind of a condition. The EU explicitly doesn't want to admit any country which has problems into their ranks. Now, the Greek Cypriot part of the island has been admitted, with the problem. The problem is not solved, but the owner of the child has changed hands. This will be an issue that has to be addressed, and be solved, but I think it will be more appropriate to talk about the dimensions of this issue after the 17th of December."

Reflecting on the ways of diplomacy, Mr. Erman shares one of the reasons for his optimism. "I remember when I first joined the foreign affairs ministry in the 1970s," he says. "My first posting was Geneva. At the time, the European Security Cooperation conference was underway. I recall my early career experience, when I saw those position papers presented --with round brackets, square brackets, each bracket presenting a different opinion from a different country! As a young diplomat, I thought, 'there is no hope. Who is going to bring those brackets together? -- one position is dark black, the other is white' -- and so forth. But with patience, with common understanding, those brackets are one by one removed. It's the same as our relations with Europe, many of those brackets are removed already-- a lot are still there to be removed. But once you start negotiating with goodwill, we shall see what Europe wants us to be, and Europe will see what we really are."

Turkey's Prime Minister, Recep Erdogan, was swept into power in 2002, based largely on enthusiasm for his pro-EU platform. The ambassador says, "The Prime Minister is young, and he comes from the grassroots. He can communicate very easily and can convince people. This was enough to bring him into power, but then you have to keep your words, which he did. Immediately, he went to European countries, and to the United States, and sent the message to the people that the future of the country lies with Europe." As part of the reforms required by the European Union's Copenhagen criteria, a new penal code was instituted, outlawing capital punishment. Mr. Erman says, "Our penal code was derived from the Italian code of the 1930s, from Mussolini's time. The penal system and legal system as a whole had to be updated. There's been an unprecedented improvement of human rights. There is zero tolerance for torture."

Turkey's reforms have included economic measures as well. Mr. Erman says, "some of these economic measures may hurt-- they're always bitter pills. But it is the confidence the people have placed in the government for the future, that if we proceed this way, tomorrow will be better."

5. - The Boston Globe - "Europe's stake in Turkey":

More than 100 years ago Czar Nicholas I of Russia dubbed Turkey "the sick man of Europe" because the ailing Ottoman Empire seemed at death's door. Today Turks say, "We may have been sick, but at least we were considered part of Europe."

ISTANBUL / 3 December 2004 / by H.D.S. Greenway

On Dec. 17 the 25 members of the European Union will decide whether Turkey can formally begin the long process of joining their club -- and Europe is divided.

Austria's commissioner, Franz Fischler, for example, said that Turkey is "far more oriental than European." Former French president Valery Giscard d'Estaing said that admitting Turkey would be "the end of Europe." French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin asked: "Do we want the river of Islam to enter the riverbed of secularism?" And Frits Bolkestein of the Netherlands said that if Turkey joined the EU, the victory over the Turks at the gates of Vienna in 1683 would "have been in vain."

To be sure, other European leaders have been supportive, but even in the most secular of continents Christendom still harbors old-folk fears of the "Terrible Turk," as if his armies were still encamped on the Danube. My oldest friend on the continent of Europe told me in all seriousness recently that the reason the Americans favor Turkish entry into the EU is because they want Europe to be weak.

"Let's be clear about this," said Holland's foreign minister, Ben Bot, recently. "The member states decide," and the decision must be unanimous. Bot called upon the Turks, even at this late hour, to initiate and implement further reforms.

Not that Turkey hasn't been turning reform somersaults to suit the Europeans: overhauling its laws, abolishing the death penalty, improving human rights, and asserting civilian control over the military -- all of this by a nominally Islamist government. "It used to be the army that would boss us around, but now it is the EU," said Vuslat Dogan Sabanci, CEO of Istanbul's newspaper Hurriyet.

While it may be true that many Turks are tired of jumping over ever-higher bars to please the Europeans, others see the pressure to join Europe as advantageous to bringing badly needed reforms for Turkey's own sake. For them the journey to Europe -- which even if accession talks begin could still take a decade or more -- is as important as the arrival. "While American hard power is destroying Iraq," said professor and journalist Sahin Alpay, "European soft power is transforming Turkey."

And this can be only to the good of the world. A stable and secular Islamic country of some 71 million in the Middle East and bordering on the Turkic speaking peoples of Central Asia can be an invaluable strategic asset to the Western world -- a beacon of democracy and free markets and a bulwark against the rise of Islamic fanaticism. As Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan put it to a group of visiting journalists here: "We believe that a Europe that will include Turkey will not be a Christian club but the only venue where civilizations meet through a historic compromise."

No doubt Europe is being asked to swallow a big pill. Turkey is poor and will probably surpass Germany in population during the next decade or two. Most of Turkey is in Asia, as critics like to point out, but Turkey has a bigger population living on the European side of the Bosphorus -- 8 million -- than 11 of the 25 countries already in the EU.

Yes, the dominant religion in Turkey is Islam. But since Kamel Ataturk wrenched Turkey into secularism 80 years ago, the separation of mosque and state has remained strong. Turks note with irony that France followed Turkey's lead in banning head scarves in state schools. And with some 15 million Muslims already living in EU countries, more than 3 million of them Turks, the union already has more Muslims in its midst than the populations of all but seven of its member states. The gates of Vienna have already been breached.

If the EU had remained the tidy grouping of six industrial countries in Western Europe, one could better sympathize with the contention that Turkey doesn't belong. But with the admission of former communist countries, as well as divided Cyprus and minuscule Malta, into the club, it would be grotesque to keep Turkey out.

6. - BBC - "'Islam problem' baffles Turkey":

The BBC's Istanbul correspondent Jonny Dymond examines the influence of Islam in modern Turkey, ahead of a key European Union summit on 17 December to decide whether Ankara can open EU accession talks.

KONYA / 3 December 2004

What difference does Islam make? To many in Europe, when thinking about Turkey's possible membership, it is the defining difference; to some politicians, it is one difference too far.
Most people in Turkey, however, cannot understand what all the fuss is about.

Konya is a flourishing city in the middle of Turkey. The city is clean and well run, well connected to points north, south, east and west.

It was once known as the "citadel of Islam", and it is still more obviously devout than the cities to the west. It seems like a logical place to look for the great divide between the Christian and Islamic worlds.

Family values

In one of the many business parks that ring the city sits Zade, a family-run oil processing firm.

It employs 45 people and has about 5% of the Turkish cooking oil market. It is the kind of firm that has contributed to Konya's prosperity.

It is run by the kind of man who scratches his head when asked what it is about Islam that has so many Europeans worried.
"It's totally their problem," says Tahir Buyukhelvacigil. "We have proven ourselves many years ago. Sometimes I ask myself the same question, I ask myself 'Why are they so concerned about us?' and I don't understand."

When asked about Islamic values, he yields a little.

"Every country has its own traditions and customs - Europe has its traditions and customs, and we have ours.

"Whatever Europe has today in modern daily life, we have it in Turkey. But we have higher family values, friendship values and solidarity, and I think this is our richness. That's something Europe can learn from us."

There is a greater emphasis on family and neighbours in Turkey than in much of Europe, and it is especially evident during Ramadan, the month of dawn-until-dusk fasting.

But whether it is a product of Islam, or of more complex societal forces, seems almost impossible to divine.
Professor Omer Ulukapi, at Konya's university, describes the family as "the basis of our culture". But he goes on to list the factors - moral, ethical, religious and historical - that he thinks have contributed to the elevated status that the family still has.

It is the same with the status of women. To Western eyes, the role of women in Turkey, especially in eastern Turkey, is a subordinate one.

It is nothing to do with wearing a headscarf. Instead, it is the way in which women have a far lower public profile - and in general, the more religious the place, the lower that profile gets.

European club

But the more religious the place, the more conservative it is as well. Disentangling the impact of religion from the impact of society in general is an impossible task.

Maybe this is what is perceived as the problem.

Much of Europe is uninterested in religion these days. The same cannot be said for Turkey.

A very high proportion of the population describes themselves as practising Muslims - more than 90% in a 1999 survey said they kept the Ramadan fast.
In Konya, you can believe those sorts of numbers. But it still baffles residents that Europeans should worry about Islam in Turkey.

The city's mayor Tahir Akyirek has a nuanced message: "I don't believe that we are different but I do believe that there are differences.

"Of course there are differences, different cultures, different ethnicities, but the whole point is to learn together from these differences."

It all seems a long way from the "clash of civilisations".

It will not satisfy those who feel that Turkey's Islamic identity rules it out of the European club.

But as far as most of the Muslims of Turkey are concerned, the "problem" lies elsewhere.

7. - Southeast European Times - "Turkey to Reform Water Policy":

As an EU candidate, Turkey must harmonise its laws with those of the Union. The country is preparing to reform its tight policy on transboundary rivers and water resources in order to comply with EU criteria and international law.

ISTANBUL / 1 December 2004 / by Vahit Bora

Turkey is preparing to reform its tight policy on transboundary rivers and water resources in order to comply with EU criteria and international law. The country's foreign ministry has established two working groups -- one to prepare the new water legislation, taking into account Turkey's needs as well as the EU Water Framework Directive, and the other to carry out the necessary restructuring of institutions.

As an EU candidate, Turkey is required to harmonise its laws, including those governing environmental resources, with those of the Union. Ankara is hoping to start membership negotiations with the EU in 2005, provided the Union gives the go-ahead during its summit this month. The EU-Turkey Accession Partnership Agreement of 2003 urged Turkey to approve the Union's water standards.

At the same time, the country must balance its need to safeguard its resources with current interpretations of international law, which require countries to consider the impact of water policies on neighbouring countries. Transboundary rivers constitute 40 per cent of Turkey's water potential. It has been reported that the Middle East, and the Gulf States in particular, will face serious water shortages during the next 25 years, and Turkey is likely to be one of the main sources for the transfer of fresh water.

The two important rivers originating in Turkey -- the Tigris and the Euphrates -- have long been the subject of disagreements with water-stressed Syria and Iraq, which are traversed by both rivers. During the 1990s, while Syria and Iraq were calling on Turkey to release more water for agricultural use, the country instead decided to construct dams to foster economic growth in its poorest regions. Under a protocol signed in 1987, Turkey releases 500 cubic metres per second of water to Syria, which would like to see this amount increased to 700 cubic metres. Once Ankara signs the recent international conventions on transboundary rivers, it will have to obtain Syria's approval if it wants to build a dam on the Euphrates.

Turkey also has its own long-term needs to consider. Many experts warn the country could face shortages by 2030, due to a growing population, combined with rapid urbanisation and industrialisation. Even as the foreign ministry sets about developing a more flexible policy, it is also seeking precautions. Ankara will likely push Syria and Iraq to acknowledge the Tigris and the Euphrates as having one river basin, thus decreasing the requirements under international law. In addition, Turkey will try to prevent interventions by third parties, demanding instead that only riparian states should be involved in discussions concerning water rights.

8. - Central Standard Time - "Turkey's Gul:No Recognition without Cyprus Solution":

2 December 2004

Ankara has clearly rejected the call by the European Union (EU) for Turkey to recognize the Greek Cypriot administration before the December 17th Summit where a decision on when to begin membership negotiations with Turkey will be made.

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul sent the following message to Europe during a visit to Slovenia yesterday: "There will be no recognition without a solution in Cyprus." Gul spoke to journalists after meeting with Slovenian Foreign Minister Ivo Vajgel. Gul said: "Our opinion on Cyprus is quite clear. There is no solution yet." Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, meanwhile, appeared on NTV television saying that Turkey has taken the required steps on the Cyprus issue. "After all that has happened, the EU cannot impose any new requirements on us. It is not our focal point to take a step on this before December 17th."

The EU Term President, the Netherlands, has prepared an agenda draft for the December 17th Summit, which was leaked to the press. The draft suggests that Turkey should provide de facto recognition of the Greek Cypriot administration. Denmark's Prime Minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said yesterday that Turkey could not start membership negotiations without recognizing the Greek Cypriot administration. When Erdogan was asked what Turkey's response would be if this requirement was included in the final resolution of the EU summit, Erdogan replied: "No one should act on a policy to corner Turkey, we will not accept this." The Prime Minister pointed out that despite all the negativities, Turkey made the required gesture and approved Greek Cypriot membership in the Customs Union (CU). When asked where the next initiative to solve the Cyprus issue will come from next year, the Prime Minister said: "We will continue our struggle for a solution on the Cyprus issue; we will be in search of it. Who knows? When the time comes, there may be some surprises."

Erdogan described the latest developments as opportunism and recalled the referendum on the Annan Plan in Cyprus on April 24th 2004. He said that the Turkish side voted 'yes' to the plan and was supported by the EU, but the Greek side rejected it. He continued: "Despite this, the Greek Cypriot side became a full member of the EU on May 1st. This contradicts the Copenhagen Criteria. They promised that within two days the isolation policies against the north would change, but there has been no progress." The Prime Minister noted that they expect to start membership negotiations in the first half of 2005.