TURKEY: GOT CONCERN ABOUT CYPRUS EU ACCESSION

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 002155 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/02/2013 TAGS: PGOV PREL TU SUBJECT: TURKEY: GOT CONCERN ABOUT CYPRUS EU ACCESSION DOCUMENTS (U) Classified by DCM Robert S. Deutsch. Reason: 1.5(b)(d) ¶1. (C) In a March 28 meeting with DCM, MFA Cyprus DG Apakan raised GOT concerns about the draft EU protocol on Cyprus that will be attached to the accession partnership documents new members will sign on April 16. ¶2. (C) According to Apakan, the draft copy of the protocol obtained by the GOT crosses Turkish red lines by: (1) referring to the "Republic of Cyprus," not to the "New Partnership;" (2) essentially ruling out long-standing principles of bizonality on the island; (3) ignoring the declaration at the EU's Helsinki summit in 1999 that "all relevant factors (i.e., lack of a solution on Cyprus) would be considered" in the context of whether to admit the island. Apakan implied that admitting a divided Cyprus ran contrary to this sentiment; (4) and closing the door on the possibility that a solution will ever be reached. ¶3. (C) If there is any hope for a settlement, room in the document must be preserved for the application of these principles, Apakan stated. Therefore the UN, and the USG, should lobby EU members on Turkey's behalf to ensure that the final version of the protocol reflects these principles. -------------- DCM Replies -------------- ¶4. (C) DCM noted that Embassy would be pleased to relay Apakan's views to Department. He also noted that, however: (1) GOT concerns are now with an EU process over which the United States, not being a member, has no control; which was why (2) the USG had so strongly urged Turkey in the run up to the EU's Copenhagen summit in last December -- and indeed since the Helsinki summit, when the EU formally accepted Turkey's candidacy -- to come to terms on Cyprus. -------------- TGS Drop-By -------------- ¶5. (C) TGS Greece-Cyprus department head RADM Kadir Sagdic subsequently dropped in on the meeting and made the following points: (1) the USG's "mistake" regarding Cyprus was to have "fallen under the spell" of UK Cyprus negotiator Hannay -- whom, Sagdic charged, was on the take, having received some USG 5 million in payoffs from the Greek Cypriots; and (2) it "would be better from the U.S. point of view" if two sovereign and independent states were to be established on Cyprus, which could, in theory, merge at some future date, when they would simultaneously join the EU. DCM reiterated the points he had made earlier to Apakan. (Comment: Sagdic was essentially calling on the USG to recognize the "TRNC." His views are among the most extreme at TGS. End comment.) PEARSON