Istanbul, 27/11/2001 (Agence Europe) - During a meeting in Istanbul of the EU/Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee, British Liberal Democrat Andrew Duff, MEP, called on Turkey's Foreign Minister Ismail Cem to persuade Rauf Denktash, Turkish Cypriot leader, to "join the EU accession talks on the final two chapters concerning institutions and political matters". The EU should "insist on substantive talks on power sharing between the two Cypriot communities" and "offer itself as a guarantor of a new federated settlement" said Mr Duff. He hoped that "Mr Solana would visit Cyprus as soon as possible and prepare for an EU military presence on the island as a contribution to lasting security". In his view, this would "allow for the reduction of Turkish forces on the island" and the United Kingdom could contribute one of its sovereign bases to this end.
Tuncay Özilhan, President of Tüsiad (Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association) said during a meeting with MEPs that the Commission's report on Turkey and the EU was "as a whole quite even-handed". Its language was "relatively sensitive" and "the issues it raised were mostly treated fairly", said the representative of the Turkish employers. He added: "You already recognise that the EU is at fault in terms of the assistance it provides to Turkey. You know that in the negotiations over the inclusion of services in the Customs Union, it is Brussels and not Ankara that drags its feet". Furthermore, Mr Özilhan recalled the effort made by his organisation to "move the process of integration between Turkey and the EU forward". The Tüsiad is fighting to "pursue the agenda of political and economic liberalisation and democratisation. (…) We took the lead in forging a coalition of societal forces. (…) All of these had taken place in the midst of the most profound and severe economic crisis that we have ever experienced. A crisis during which our partners in the Customs Union did little that was noticeable. The point was not lost on the Turkish people. Especially since the US government went out of its way to be helpful while remaining firm in its demands for reform". By way of conclusion, Mr Özilhan noted that the main challenge remains the question of Cyprus. He said: "If the EU goes ahead with the admission of Greek Cypriots so as not to have to face a Greek veto on enlargement, we fear irreparable damage will have been done to our relations".