Brussels, 16/11/2000 (Agence Europe) - Information from Ankara indicate that the Turkish Prime Minister, Bulent Ecevit, wrote to the EU Minister for Foreign Affairs to reaffirm the refusal to link Turkish candidacy (for accession to the EU) and the problem of Cyprus. Mr Ecevit personally announced to MPs in his party (Democratic Left): "today I sent (that is to say Wednesday) to the European Ministers and administrators a letter clearly explaining the determination of Turkey on this issue" (text cited by the Anatolie agency). Mr Ecevit also explained: "we have already told the Member State governments and the European institutions that the Cypriot conflict concerns the two communities on the island, and that nobody should meddle with this problem. Guarantees where given to us on this issue".
Turkish protests refer to a passage of the "partnership for accession" drafted by the European Commission, calling on Ankara to support the UN efforts to find a global agreement on the Cypriot issue. Mr Ecevit criticised the position of the UN Secretary General concerning to methods for the reunification of the island, by defining them as unacceptable for the Turkish part and asserting that no compromise is possible if the existence of two States in Cyprus was not recognised (this stance by Ankara would be, according to some observers, in contradiction with the assertion according to which the Cypriot case exclusively concerns the two island communities).
Furthermore the Turkish government is in the process of preparing a reaction to the stance taken by the European parliament on the conditions for the opening of Turkish accession negotiations with the EU (see yesterday's EUROPE pages 3 and 4).