Talat and Christofias launched UN-led peace talks aimed at finding a comprehensive solution to the division of the island in September 2008. Talat is to be challenged by conservative Prime Minister Derviş Eroğlu, who opposes reunification of the island, in the presidential elections. Observers say a solution is less likely if Eroğlu is elected.
“Before the elections in the KKTC, I believe the unification talks between the leaders of two peoples of the island will bring concrete progress toward the resolution of the problem on the island,” said Turkish Minister Egemen Bağış, speaking at a conference at Bahçeşehir University in İstanbul late on Thursday. He also noted that it will not be a big disappointment if the unification talks fail to bring a settlement.
Reciprocity on Orthodox seminary
Bağış, commenting on the possible reopening of a Greek Orthodox seminary on Heybeliada island, off of İstanbul, referred to the principle of reciprocity, calling on Greece to take measures to improve the religious rights of its Turkish Muslim minority. Noting that the status of Halki Seminary, closed since 1971, was a domestic matter since it is first and foremost an issue for Turkey’s Greek Orthodox citizens, he added that the government should also consider the principle of reciprocity in international relations and recalled the failure of the Greek government to provide a democratic environment in which the Muslim Turkish minority in the country would be able to protect its cultural and religious rights.
“Halki Seminary was closed as a result of a court’s ruling; it was not the government who closed it down. Therefore, rather than being political, it is a judicial decision. We are working on the ways to find out whether current laws allow the government to reopen it. It is a human rights issue. However, we should keep the problems of the Turkish Muslim minority in Greece in our minds. Reciprocal and simultaneous steps favoring human rights taken by both Turkey and Greece will definitely bring relief to the countries’ politics,” he stated. “Halki Seminary may be opened as a vocational school rather than a department of a faculty in a university,” Bağış added.
Bağış was protested by a group chanting slogans against the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government and its pro-EU membership policies before starting his speech. Listening to the protestors, Bağış said that it is quite normal to have people in Turkey who are critical of EU membership, but added that he is determined to explain the advantages of EU membership at every occasion despite the protests.
