Our View: Should Cyprus follow suit as EU warms up to Turkey?

In the run-up to Cyprus joining the EU, then president Tassos Papadopoulos gave assurances to the European Commission that all of the island would become part of the Union. Papadopoulos did not keep his word and campaigned against the Annan plan, which was rejected in the referendum, and only the part of the island under the control of the Cyprus Republic became part of the EU on May 1, 2004.

Since then, the policy of the Cyprus government has been to use its EU membership to cause problems to Turkey’s relations with the EU, by blocking the opening of chapters for accession negotiations and vetoing decisions affecting Turkey, among other things. It was allowed to do this because other, more powerful member-states had second thoughts about Turkey’s accession and the process eventually ground to a halt.

The policy of using the EU to punish Turkey for its continuing occupation of Cyprus has continued with mixed results. When Brussels needed some agreement or understanding with Turkey (as in the Syrian refugee crisis) Nicosia’s objections were completely ignored. More recently, however, President Nikos Christodoulides has managed to link EU-Turkey relations with progress in Turkey’s so-called Cyprus obligations, an achievement that Nicosia was very proud of.

The problem is that this obstructionist policy and the idea of sitting Turkey in the dock has always been seen by the Cyprus government as an end in itself. No government in Nicosia has ever used this power or Brussels’ wish not to have the Cyprus issue affecting its relations with Ankara to try to push for a Cyprus settlement. Christodoulides made the link between EU-Turkey relations and the Cyprus issue part of Brussels policy, but only for effect because his objective is an inconclusive process and not a settlement.

The grounds for these tactical games have now vanished. Conditions have radically changed in Europe, where the rethinking and reshaping of the continent’s security has become the number one priority given President Donald Trump’s unilateralism and threats to withdraw US military backing. There is also the threat of Russia. The new security environment has pushed Turkey closer to the EU, something made abundantly clear by Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos during her visit to Ankara last weekend.

Turkey’s EU accession is back on the table and Kos went as far so to suggest that allowances could be made in the accession negotiations to help Turkey. It is an indication of the importance Brussels now attaches to bringing Turkey closer to the Union, even if accession might still have some distance to travel.

“The new geopolitical and economic challenges show that both sides want to proceed and for me this is the most important conclusion,” said Kos in an interview with Turkish paper Hurriyet. “Russia and other authoritarian countries want to see Europe fail and this pushed us to examine more carefully with which countries we will cooperate. In this framework, Turkey is our important partner from an economic, security and regional viewpoint,” she concluded.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was in Ankara for a meeting with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan that illustrated the steady improvement of relations between the two countries and their commitment to resolving long-standing disputes. Proof of the general improvement in relations was the fact that the value of trade between the two last year was close to €7 billion, with a target of €10 billion by 2030.

The meeting gave rise to some negative comments by journalists close to the presidential palace, an indication that Nicosia is not very happy with the gradual smoothing of Greece-Turkey relations, despite assurance that Mitsotakis had spoken to Christodoulides in advance. The optics of Athens pursuing friendly relations with Ankara are not good for Nicosia, which does not seem remotely interested in taking advantage of this change of climate and conditions for the Cyprus issue.

The government must recognise that conditions have changed in Europe and in our region. It needs to adapt to the new international setting and become a part of it, although this would be difficult if it does not leave the old thinking and traditional rhetoric behind. It may even have to agree to a settlement.