EU downbeat on chances to salvage Turkey talks
MARK BEUNDERMAN
14.11.2006 @ 09:28 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - EU foreign ministers have given a downbeat assessment on the chances of keeping Turkey's accession talks on track, with the Finnish EU presidency openly doubting its chances of reaching a deal on Cyprus and with Austria urging a "breathing pause" in the talks.
Finnish foreign minister Erkki Tuomioja after a meeting with EU counterparts in Brussels on Monday (13 November) said it is uncertain whether his country's intense diplomatic efforts to reach a trade deal between Turkey and Cyprus will be successful, with the scenario of a full or partial suspension of Ankara's EU entry negotiations looming.
There are "two schools of thought" on the Turkey talks, said the Cypriot foreign minister (Photo: European Commission)
"We have more than three weeks to find a solution acceptable to everyone. I cannot guarantee any success in this. It is also quite possible that we do not reach an agreement within this time," Mr Tuomioja said.
Finland is currently promoting a deal which would see Ankara open its ports and airports to traffic from EU member state Cyprus - a key requirement under a customs agreement Ankara signed with Brussels - in return for the EU ending the economic isolation of Turkish Cypriots in the north of the island.
If no deal is reached before the end of the year and if Turkey continues its blockade of shipping from Cyprus, EU leaders are expected at a summit on 14-15 December to partially or even fully suspend Ankara's EU accession talks, kicked off just last year.
Helsinki has just over three weeks to break the deadlock, with the European Commission under pressure from EU capitals to issue a recommendation on the fate of the Turkey talks already in the first week of December.
According to French EU affairs minister Catherine Colonna, Mr Tuomioja estimated the chances of a deal at "less than 50 percent," adding that "for the moment there is no movement" and that the EU has to be "prepared" to draw conclusions from Ankara's defiance.
'Breathing pause'
France is one of the countries set to be tough on Ankara - but the most vocal position on the Turkey talks was taken on Monday by Austria's foreign minister Ursula Plassnik, who suggested that the EU could decide on a "breathing pause" in the negotiations which have already come to a "de facto halt" anyway.
Austria - which is against fully-fledged Turkish EU membership - in October last year staged last-minute opposition against the opening of formal accession talks with Ankara.
Ms Plassnik appeared to take an even stronger position than her Cypriot colleague Yiorgos Lillikas, who had said there are "two schools of thought" in EU on what to do with the Turkey talks if Finland reaches no diplomatic solution.
He said one school promotes the "complete disruption" of the talks while the other favours only the suspension of the "so called relevant chapters" - the negotiating chapters related to customs and trade issues.
"We are not supporting either one of these schools," he added, despite previous statements from Nicosia suggesting that it would veto the opening or closing of any chapter in the negotiations.
Varosha
A Cypriot diplomat said Nicosia's position had become "more flexible" as it did not want to "prejudge" an EU common position on the matter, but one senior EU diplomat noted "this [Cyprus' position becoming more flexible] is not my impression."
Mr Lillikas said Cyprus can generally live with the Finnish proposals, but added Cyprus will not give in on the issue of Varosha - a ghost town which has been deserted ever since the Greek Cypriots left it following the Turkish invasion of North Cyprus in 1974.
Nicosia now demands that former residents of Varosha should be allowed to return and live in the town. "This is the key element," Mr Lillikas said.
Varosha borders the port of Famagusta, which under the Finnish plan would be used to facilitate direct EU trade with Turkish Cypriots - who are now internationally isolated - under UN supervision