Erdogan arrived at a meeting with a group of journalists at the hotel a little late. After anti-Turkey rebukes by German Christian Democrat Union Party (CDU) leader Angela Merkel, Erdogan was extremely pleased with the speech by Union 90/Greens Party Co-Chair Claudia Roth. He said, “She is speaking from the heart.”
Erdogan seemed very comfortable and pleased at the Conrad Hotel meeting where the Turkish entourage is camping out during the summit. His posture was an indication that he expects positive results from the summit. The Prime Minister thinks the summit will reach a decision regarding Turkey around noon today. He will later comment on the summit outcome at a press conference.
In a description of the current pre-summit situation, the Prime Minister said: “The atmosphere is good; developments are getting better and more positive by the minute. However, we clearly need to see the text because many a lot of things can change in a minute. For this, we must see the document. We haven’t seen anything so far; there are rumors following mutual talks, but no document.” Erdogan stressed that he does not expect any surprises from the summit today “because they are tired as are we. A new requirement will bankrupt the process. Criteria such as Cyprus and the continental shelf that are not included in the Copenhagen Criteria shouldn’t be brought up; we told this to our European contacts.” These are the final messages of the Turkish Prime Minister to Europe. He emphasized that even if Turkey received what it wanted, this should certainly not be described as a “victory” and that they see the event as “the distance covered so far.” As such, a negative decision should not be seen as a “disaster” either. “Success shouldn’t spoil us. We are being cautious. We have adopted this as a principle. And we don’t have our head in the clouds,” he summarized.
US cannot be excluded
Erdogan said after the positive announcement that if the parties sit at the negotiation table, he has no special date in mind to begin membership. “We’ll begin the talks fast. We’ll carry on with the success that we have achieved over the last two years. We’ll do the required reforms,” he added with determination. The Prime Minister discussed the possibility of the US intervening in Europe on Turkey’s behalf as it did at the Copenhagen summit and said “The US being excluded is not the issue. European countries are not comfortable with this either.”
Erdogan criticized the Greek Cypriot Administration’s accession to the Union when it didn’t deserve it. Erdogan asked, “Were the Greek Cypriots taken in because they managed to meet the Copenhagen Criteria or because of geographic difficulty? The party that said ‘no’ to the Annan Plan was rewarded.” He also asserted that the EU has not taken any steps to remove the isolation applied to the Turkish Cypriot side and that only the US and the UK have taken some minor initiatives. The Prime Minister said that when the Turkish side brings up the isolation, European leaders say nothing and cannot set forth any excuses.
The Prime Minister is keeping his peaceful position on Cyprus, one of the most critical issues of the summit, but is reluctant to take any forward step prior to the start of negotiations: “Let’s leave the supplementary protocol to the negotiation process. It is not an issue to discuss now. If Cyprus will be included in the text regardless, then it is sufficient to say, it should be discussed during the negotiations.“
Erdogan said the Turkish side will be as active as it was during the Annan plan, adding: “We will go to Northern Cyprus, invite Greek leader Tasos Papadopulous, and sip a cup of coffee for peace. We can take this step. Our efforts are to improve friendship, not to be enemies. But, we should see the same from the other party, too.” He highlighted the distance Turkey and Greece has traveled towards friendship. When reminded that United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Kofi Annan has also arrived in Brussels, Erdogan said, “We don’t have a meeting with Annan. He is not here for us.”
