Cyprus should be re-united in 2009, Rehn says
LUCIA KUBOSOVA
22.12.2008 @ 20:23 CET
Next year could see Turkey make a crucial step forward on its path to EU membership and at the same time towards settlement of the long-standing division of Cyprus, Europe's enlargement commissioner Ollie Rehn has said.
"After one or two years of domestic difficulties, we would expect Turkey now to move up a gear and seriously start to pursue reforms again," Mr Rehn said in an interview with Reuters.
Mr Rehn has argued it is "essential" that Cyprus be re-united (Photo: UN)
Ankara launched its accession negotiations in 2005, but has been moving very slowly in opening and provisionally closing the 35 negotiating chapters that are based on EU law, which must be transcribed into domestic Turkish legislation.
On Friday (19 December), the 27-country bloc gave the green light to opening talks on two chapters. The development brings to ten the total number of chapters Ankara has managed to open.
The slow progress has partly been due to the turbulent domestic political situation in the predominantly Muslim country of 70 million.
"There is too much energy used up by internal tensions which could be used on pursuing legal and economic reforms that are required for EU membership," commented Mr Rehn.
Among the concrete tasks ahead of Turkey's centre-right government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the commissioner mentioned as particularly "essential" the reformation of its constitution and an expansion of freedom of expression, as well as an improvement in religious and linguistic rights.
Transforming trade law to be in line with EU standards has also hit the buffers as both trade unions and business federations have blocked moves in this direction.
The Finnish commissioner urged Ankara to resume work on each of these thorny issues at the start of the new year. "The sooner the better, but at the latest after the March elections, Turkey should totally resume reforms again," he said.
Ending the Cypriot dispute
Turkey's membership talks are also indirectly connected to Cyprus. In 2006, the EU decided to block eight negotiating areas from further discussion due to Ankara's failure to meet its commitments regarding Cyprus, notably its refusal to allow Cypriot ships and planes into Turkish ports and airspace.
For its part, Turkey maintains that Europe has also not fulfilled its own promises regarding expanded links with the de facto independent republic of Northern Cyprus, after Turkish Cypriots voted in favour of the UN peace plan for re-unification of the island in 2004, just before Cyprus was to join the EU.
Greek Cypriots living on the southern part of the island voted down the proposal, which resulted in the island entering the union divided, with the northern part, which is recognised only by Turkey, left behind and outside the EU.
Leaders of the two communities - having lived separately since a Greek Cypriot coup attempting to annex the island for Greece triggered an invasion by Turkey in 1974 - resumed talks in September. The EU has strongly supported the renewed peace process.
"We are not in the business of pressure. We are in the business of facilitation," Mr Rehn said in the Reuters interview. He argued that it is essential "to reunify the island so that Cyprus could be like a normal EU member state, in peace, united."
Mr Rehn said that in 2009 the island should see a settlement of the dispute.
