The Turkish foreign minister visited Cyprus; he then intervened in the crisis between Damascus and Baghdad, which accuses Syria of fomenting Baathist provocation; he announced on his airplane on his way back the new prospect of Ankara signing diplomatic protocols with Armenia, a few minutes before making a hard-line statement on the Cyprus issue. As far as we understand, Turkey has had enough of problems inherited from the Cold War era getting in the way of its progress. Despite the Turkish government's constructive stance on the Cyprus issue, Greek Cypriots still seem to be intransigent, and Ankara insists that if the Greek Cypriot side doesn't change its rigid position, Kosovo may be the example of the resolution of the problem. The Turkish government also says: “We've done all we can. Now it's the European Union's turn to act, because they made the mistake of letting a divided Cyprus join their union.” Turkey wants the Cyprus issue to be removed from the equation of the EU-Turkey relationship, and for this, it calls for help from countries that want to benefit from Turkey's current efforts concerning the Kurdish issue, the stabilizing of Iraqi-Syrian relations and the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations in order to assure the improvement of Caucasian-Western relations.
It's true that Turkey's efforts for regional cooperation, the Kurdish opening and the rapprochement with Armenia have a lot to do with Turkey's EU process. If democratization reforms are introduced and some steps are undertaken simultaneously to resolve Turkey's structural problems, it will be much harder to refuse Turkey's accession to the EU. Of course, the EU is not obliged to find an excuse to exclude Turkey, but then the latter can play a role restricting the EU's zone of influence more easily. Not all EU members, but perhaps the ones that oppose Turkey's membership, may suffer from this.
Historically, the Armenian, Kurdish and Cypriot problems existed simultaneously; they were used by international powers against Turkey, and Turkey generally couldn't manage the crises. Today, the resolution of these should be simultaneous, as each peace effort triggers other peace efforts around the globe. The Kurdish, Armenian and Cypriot problems destabilize Turkey's relations with NATO, the Council of Europe, the Caucasus region, countries like Iraq, Iran, Syria and Russia and especially the EU process. Turkey is right to take this very seriously.
Efforts (both internally and externally) aimed at keeping Turkey trapped in a vicious circle are no longer feasible for a country whose actions are crucial for regional stability. That's why Turkey is trying to adjust its foreign relations to be in line with international goals. The international community invites countries to establish a democratic structure respecting their citizens' ways of life, to get along well with their neighbors, to face their histories and to prioritize cooperation. This is not only true for Turkey, but also for Cyprus, Iraq and Armenia. The people of Iraq and Armenia have taken note of this, too, which is why they are eager to negotiate. However, the same is not the case for Cyprus. That's why there is a pressing need for EU countries who support Turkey's accession and who are aware of the current realities to act: Because the Cyprus issue is slowly leaving the domain of the EU-Turkey relationship, at a time when Barack Obama's US is waiting for its turn to intervene in matters such as this.
