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ANKARA, Dec 2: Turkey said on Sunday it had broken a diplomatic logjam with Britain and the United States which had for months hindered efforts to create a European defence force.
The Turkish government said negotiations had established a concrete base that will allow cooperation “in all areas” between NATO and the 15-nation EU over the EU-wide defence project.
Turkey, a NATO member, had previously blocked efforts to create the 60,000 strong force, denying EU governments the right to use NATO bases in the country. Turkey said talks with British and US officials earlier this week paved the way towards ending a standoff over EU plans for a rapid reaction force.
“There is the belief that the results of the three party talks form a concrete basis that will provide an opportunity to take relations between the EU and NATO forward in every field,” a statement released by the prime minister’s office said.
The EU is set to declare the first elements of the force at a summit of leaders in Brussels later this month.
EU candidate Turkey holds a veto of the force’s automatic use of NATO assets and has demanded a guaranteed right to join EU-only operations when they do not involve NATO as a whole.
Diplomats said British Foreign Office officials assured Ankara in the three-way talks on Monday the 60,000-strong NATO force, due to be operational by mid-2003, would not be used in crises involving Cyprus or the Aegean Sea.
Europe has said Turkey and other non-EU states will be given a consultative role, but cannot take part in the force’s closed-door decision-making process.
Observers say US Secretary of State Colin Powell could push Turkey towards a final deal during a visit to Ankara on Tuesday.
CYPRIOTS WEARY: Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders in Nicosia are to meet on Tuesday to try to iron out differences that have divided the island and torn NATO allies asunder for decades.
But the word on the streets of Nicosia is: So what?
Irrespective of ethnic origin, many Cypriots appear united in their resignation that another encounter — call it a mini-summit, a window of opportunity or a landmark meeting — between Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash and Greek Cypriot leader Glafcos Clerides will be a dismal flop. People are weary.
The Cyprus dispute is part of broader tensions between NATO allies Greece and Turkey.
The European Union is expected to open the way next year for Cyprus — the Clerides administration recognized internationally as sovereign over the entire island — to enter the Union.
If there is no deal before then, serious tensions could arise between the Union, Greece and Turkey.
Though people on the two sides agree chances of an imminent breakthrough are minimal, they disagree over why.
OPTIMISTS OUTNUMBERED: Some cling to hopes of a positive outcome.
“It is extremely encouraging,” said Vehbi Zeki Serter, speaker of the Turkish Cypriot “parliament”. “I think it is going to provide an opportunity to hopefully explore the mutual benefits which are waiting on the horizon under the EU umbrella.”
Even those who support grass-roots contacts between the two sides struck a downbeat note. “On a grassroots level I think people have kept a distance, they are not talking much about it. People have been raising their hopes for so long,” said teacher Nicos Anastassiou.
“People are fatigued. They are just numb,” he said. —Reuters/AFP
