’Turkey must offer real support’

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

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Costas Karamanlis said yesterday that Turkey's policy on Cyprus remains "antiquated, divisive and threatening."

Karamanlis said peace talks started in September stand a good chance of success if Turkey "permits and encourages" the Turkish Cypriot community to negotiate with rival Greek Cypriots in good faith. 

Karamanlis made the remarks yesterday at a special session of Cyprus' parliament at the end of a two-day official visit.

Back EU bid
Greece and Cyprus said Wednesday they backed Turkey's bid to join the European Union, but that the neighbor with which they have been at loggerheads for years must meet EU entry requirements. "We have fully supported the full entry of Turkey to the European Union. But it is not possible to give our consent unless the Cyprus problem is solved, and Turkey meets all its obligations towards the European Union," Karamanlis said.

In comments to journalists earlier Karamanlis said: "We believe that a Turkey which will adopt European rules of behavior ... will be a Turkey much better for its citizens and the whole of the EU."

"There is no blank cheque," added Greek Cypriot President Demetris Christofias.

The two allies, both EU members, have had a difficult relationship with Ankara for decades. However, Athens has been a strong backer of Turkey’s bid to join the EU.

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, or its Turkish acronym KKTC, are the names used in Turkey and in the northern third of the island to describe the Turkish-controlled portion that declared its independence in 1983. Internationally, the Greek administration in the south is recognized and the island is referred to as the Republic of Cyprus.

Once part of the Ottoman Empire, the island formally became a British colony at the end of World War I with Turkey relinquishing its sovereignty in 1923. In 1960, the island became an independent republic. Turkey, Greece and the United Kingdom were made guarantors of that independence under the accord that granted the island its status. After repeated outbreaks of violence between the Greek and Turkish populations, the military government of Greece launched a coup in 1974 seeking to annex the island to Greece. After a failed bid to gain UK intervention to turn back the coup, Turkey intervened itself. That division of the island has remained to this day.

In a 2004 referendum, Turkish Cyprus accepted a European Union-backed plan to unify the island. The ethnic Greek community rejected it. The legally awkward result was entry of the Greek-led Republic of Cyprus into the EU as representative of the whole island while the KKTC was subjected to a continuing EU economic blockade.

For purposes of clarity, the Daily News generally uses the terms Turkish Cyprus and Greek Cyprus to refer to the two administrations.