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player, it has no longer dealt with minor questions such as the Cyprus
stalemate.
This is why these centuries-old questions are still very much in existence.
Today we see that the northern province of the island of Cyprus represents,
for Turkey, an economic, political, military and human fiasco. Until recently,
relations with the southern part had been defined by begrudging support
from Ankara to the recently resumed reunification talks, and all sorts of poor
sportsmanship coming in the wake of the discovery of enough fossil fuel in
the deep waters off Cyprus to provide an answer to all of Turkey's energy
needs. But on Oct. 20, the Barbaros seismic vessel and its accompanying
fleet carried this poor sportsmanship to a new dimension. What Ankara has
done is, to quote columnist Niyazi Kzlyrek, expand the 40 years of land
occupation into the sea. Ten days later, an Oct. 30 meeting of the Turkish
National Security Council (MGK) took up the drilling activity in the Cypriot
Republic's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) as an item on its agenda. In a
statement made after the MGK meeting, it was announced: It has been
clarified that in the future, Turkey will resolutely take every precaution
necessary to protect its rights and interests in its own continental shelf, and
that of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC) in licensed areas, in its
capacity as a guarantor state. Never mind that Turkey, according to the
1959 Zrich Agreement, is the guarantor, together with Greece and the UK,
of the Republic of Cyprus. Its guarantor status for the KKTC has no
international basis!
The declaration from the MGK occurred despite the fact that just 10 days
prior, on Oct. 20, Cyprus had condemned the violation of its EEZ, indicating
that it would be prepared to veto any positive developments in Turkey's
ongoing EU accession talks as a result. Clearly, the MGK declaration
completely discounts Cyprus's reaction. It also discounts the possible
negative repercussions that might damage both the Cyprus reunification talks
and the EU accession talks, ignoring the ex-officio sponsor of the Cyprus
talks, the US. It also undermines neighboring countries such as Egypt, Greece
and Israel, which also have EEZ's, while also failing to recognize the United
Nations, which is in charge of the implementation of EEZ rules in the seas.
On the weekend following the MGK decision, the fleet sent out this salvo, If
we encounter any problems on this front, we will follow the rules of
engagement. What thus appeared before the world was the vision of a real
toughie, one that recognizes no rule of law!
Many people cannot help wondering, in the face of such a frightening
tableau, whether the ruling party is in pursuit of a cheap foreign victory -that actually may come at great cost -- in the run up to the increasingly