Cyprus diplomacy gathers steam again after Finnish plan fails
November 29th, 2006 by
Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen is coming to Turkey on Friday to discuss Turkey’s European Union negotiations, with his talks to be followed by a visit by Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt on Dec. 4, as diplomacy gains momentum again after the failure of a Finnish plan to resolve a dispute over Turkey’s refusal to open its ports and airports to traffic from Greek Cyprus.
Kim Darroch, British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s European affairs advisor, is also scheduled to visit Ankara today and have talks at the Foreign Ministry. In Riga, where leaders of NATO countries are meeting for a summit, Blair is expected to meet with Erdoğan for talks on how to tackle the Cyprus dispute.
Sources told the Turkish Daily News that Vanhanen’s visit is meant to “take Ankara’s pulse” rather than to seek a new compromise formula on Cyprus.
Finland’s efforts to reach a deal on the ports dispute this year failed when Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja announced after separate talks with Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül and Greek Cypriot Foreign Minister George Lillikas in Tampere on Monday that there was no possibility for a quick agreement.
Erdoğan, speaking before heading to Riga for the NATO summit, said Finland’s efforts had not been a waste. “I do not share the view that the Finnish plan was without any results,” he said. “We will continue our journey [towards EU membership] under any conditions. We will do whatever falls on our shoulders.”
He also said there would be no “train crash” over Cyprus, deriving support for his optimism from EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn, who said talks with Turkey will not be frozen but instead will proceed more slowly.
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