Cemil Çiçek, who is also the state minister for Cyprus affairs, told participants at the workshop called “Turkish Cyprus in 2011 -- Opportunities and Threats” in Ankara that the Cyprus problem is bigger than party affiliations and is a national matter for all governments in Turkey.
“If you place Turkish Cyprus on one side of a scale and EU membership on the other, Turkey would prefer Turkish Cyprus a thousand times,” Çiçek stressed, adding that the EU cannot be a political force without Turkey and that Turkey would not sacrifice Turkish Cypriot’s rights and interests for the EU, whose future is shrouded in doubt. Çiçek acknowledged that there is a standstill in Turkey’s EU membership talks because of Cyprus, but that Turkey is ready to pay the price.
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| BÜLENT KENEŞ | ![]() |
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| What befell Niyazi-i Misri in the past is happening to Fethullah Gülen now | |||
| EKREM DUMANLI | ![]() |
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| When a call for fairness and reason finds acceptance | |||
| ŞAHİN ALPAY | ![]() |
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| Uludere, test case for democracy in Turkey | |||
| EMRE USLU | ![]() |
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| Are the Kurds mentally divorced from Turkey? | |||
| GÖKHAN BACIK | ![]() |
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| Erdoğan, Gül and Davutoğlu: the inner bargain on Turkish foreign policy | |||
| MARKAR ESAYAN | ![]() |
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| Taking lessons from previous experiences with the military | |||
| YAVUZ BAYDAR | ![]() |
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| Qualm | |||
| ÖMER TAŞPINAR | ![]() |
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| A new phase in Syria? | |||
| İHSAN DAĞI | ![]() |
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| Turkish foreign policy: Time for a re-evaluation | |||
| SEYFETTİN GÜRSEL | ![]() |
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| Poor-friendly economic growth and the AK Party | |||
| CHARLOTTE MCPHERSON | ![]() |
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| Missing women, missing opportunities | |||
| BERK ÇEKTİR | ![]() |
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| Changes to incentives for investment in Turkey | |||
| MERVE BÜŞRA ÖZTÜRK | ![]() |
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| The 1960 coup: a final test for democracy | |||
| AMANDA PAUL | ![]() |
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| Ukraine: a lost country | |||
| MÜMTAZER TÜRKÖNE | ![]() |
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| The 52nd anniversary of May 27 | |||
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