The Middle Ages are 500 years behind us. Europe should not fear a new barbarian horde at its gates. When Turkey was not invited to Europe’s big birthday despite being an official candidate for EU membership, Turkish people were quite disappointed and expressed heartbreak at this unfortunate missed opportunity.

But now, the anger and frustration which were peaked at that time, are slowly giving way to a new, more assertive idea. That perhaps Turkey does not really need Europe after all and the EU will come to regret its insultingly complacent chauvinism as Turkey goes its own way — facing eastward. It is probable that the Europeans underestimated the importance and influence of Turkey in the region. If they are serious about the future of Europe as a power in global affairs, they need to change their way of thinking.

In the 1990s, the EU was a giant organization governed by prominent leaders; today it seems it has become a fat midget that lacks perspective and is governed by small thinkers.

Turkey is now recalibrating its external ties and the EU is but one of the knots on the rope. EU membership should not be seen only as a gift to Turkey as the benefits for Europe are just as many as for Turkey. While in Turkey the working-age population as a proportion of the total population is growing, it is the contrary in Europe. Turkey’s strength is the drive and energy of its 70 million people, a dynamic resource that flabby, middle-aged Europe lacks. Rates of growth mean that by 2015, Turkey could become an importer of labor.

Turkey’s increasingly important regional leadership role is also changing the way it views the EU. As a vital transit hub, it provides much of Europe’s oil and gas from the Caspian basin, Russia and, prospectively the Turkic republics of central Asia. This is leading to closer cooperation with Moscow and reviving ideas of a Turkic Commonwealth from Azerbaijan to Kazakhstan.

The Republic of Cyprus started adding poison to the pot immediately after its accession to the EU on May 1, 2004. Disillusion with the EU begun to slowly escalate and now to peak after Brussels partially suspended talks in December in a row over Cyprus. The hostility, as perceived from Ankara, of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, keeps poisoning the pot at a rate of one deadly drop per day.

Turkey’s new-found confidence about life beyond Europe is based in part on a booming economy, whose sustained, IMF-supervised 7 percent annual growth rate far outperforms large EU states. Export earnings are rising too, including in the Arab lands of the old Ottoman Empire.

The “Reformed Islamist” or as called after the July elections “Communal Central” government in Ankara is also cultivating the Arab and Muslim world. It is true that Turkey is the only country to reconcile Islam with a fully functioning, multi-party democracy in a modern, secular republic. The experience of the Turks shatters the myth that Islam cannot accommodate democracy. This theory is now out of question. The July 22 elections proved the existence of a stable and strong democracy in Turkey.

The Turkish government sent peacekeeping troops to Lebanon last year and conducted talk with Iran when most do not dare. Close links to Israel have not prevented Turkey from building ties with Palestinian authorities, both Hamas and Al-Fatah. Despite tensions with the Kurds, Turkey is northern Iraq’s main economic partner. Turkey is likely to be the venue for Iraqi summits in the future.

Officially, Turkey still wants to join the EU, but Europe must banish its ignorance and acknowledge its own needs. Europe is not yet ready for Turkish membership, and it seems it will take a long time for the European public to digest this fact — if Turkey does not give up the idea by then.

Bana göre artık mümkün değildir.

Gerek AKEL adayı Hristofyas gerekse de DISY adayı Kasulides, Rum Cumhurbaşkanlığı seçimlerinde ortaya attıkları “Federasyon” vaatleri ile göz göre göre yalan söylemekte ve göz boyamaktadırlar. Her ne kadar bu kişilerin sözleri ve propagandaları Kıbrıs Rumlarına dönükse de, uzun vadede Kıbrıs’lı Türkleri ve Türkiye’deki yöneticileri de kandırmaya ve AB kanalı ile baskı altına almaya yöneliktir.

Makarios’un Enosis’i savunan yüzlerce demeci, 1963, 1964 ve 1967 saldırıları,  21 Nisan 1966 tarihli PATRİS gazetesinde yayınlanan AKRİTAS planı, 1974 sonrası ele geçen IPHESTOS Planı  ve Makarios’un 2 Temmuz 1974 tarihinde Yunan Cuntasına gönderdiği meşhur mektubundaki  “Kıbrıs devleti ancak Enosis’in gerçekleşmesi halinde dağılmalıdır” sözleri unutulmuş değildir.

Gerçek şu ki, 1974 Türk Barış Harekâtı Rumların Enosis ülküsünü fiilen olanaksız hale getirince, Rum Liderleri yeni bir fırsat oluşana kadar ENOSİS’i bir kenara koydular ve daha önce yıkmak için elden gelen gayreti gösterdikleri “Kıbrıs Cumhuriyeti” unvanına sıkı sıkıya sarıldılar. Şimdiki hedefleri, üniter Rum Cumhuriyetine dönüştürdükleri bu sahte devletin egemenliğini, Kıbrıs’lı Türklerin egemenliği altında bulunan topraklara da yaymak. Bu amaçlarını gerçekleştirebilmek için de her yolu deniyorlar. AB’yi bile bu yolda iğfal ettiler.

Reddettikleri Annan planı ile kaçırdıkları bu güzel fırsatı şimdi Hristofyas’ın ve Kasulidis’in  adını “Federasyon” koydukları tuzakla tekrar ele geçirmek çabasındalar.

Hristofyas’ın ve Kasulides’in önerdikleri ve taraftarı olduklarını açıkladıkları Federasyon, aslında adı konmamış ENOSİS’ten başka bir şey değildir. Rumların egemenliği altındaki bir devlette, Kıbrıs’lı Türklerin güya ortak ama gerçekte azınlık olarak yaşamasının, Yunanistan’a ait topraklarda yaşamaktan pek bir farkı olmayacaktır.

Cumhurbaşkanı adayı Rumların Federasyon tekerlemelerine bu çerçeveden bakılırsa, eşitliğimizi ve kurucu ortaklığımızı öngörmeyen, Kıbrıs Türk Halkına azınlık hakları öneren, Türk askerinin geri gitmesini şart koşan, 74 Barış harekâtından sonra adaya gelen kardeşlerimizin geri gitmesini isteyen, Türkiye’nin garantörlüğüne son veren ve göçmen tüm Rumların kuzeydeki topraklarına geri dönmesini içeren bu tür Federasyon önerilerinin sadece, adada Rum egemenliğine yönelik öneriler olduğunu ortaya çıkarmaktadır.

Bu tür aldatıcı öneriler, Rumların gerçekte ENOSİS fikrinden vazgeçmediklerinin kesin bir kanıtıdır aslında.

Rum Meclisi’nin 1964 yılı Temmuz ayı ile 1967 yılı Haziran ayında aldığı ENOSİS kararları hala iptal edilmiş değildir.

AKEL’in 3-6 Mart 1966 tarihleri arasında gerçekleştirdiği 11.ci Genel Kurulunda alınan kararın içindeki 5.4’cü maddesinde yer alan “Enosis” kararı halen geçerliliğini korumaktadır.

Bu kararlar iptal edilmiş değildir.

Hristofyas ağzına sakız ettiği Federasyon kavramını bizim anladığımız şekilde, yani;

a-    Türk askerinin adada kalacağı,

b-    74 sonrası adamıza gelen kardeşlerimizin geri gitmeyeceği,

c-    Türkiye’nin Garantörlüğünün ve fiili garantisinin olacağı

d-    KKTC’nin varlığını sürdüreceği,

e-    Kıbrıs Rum ve Türk halklarının kendi devletleri sınırları içinde yaşadıkları ve bu devletlerde mutlak yöneticiler oldukları,

f-     Her iki devlette, sadece kendi halkından oluşan Polis, asker, hukuk, yargı, yasama ve benzeri organların bulunacağı,

Şekilde anlıyorsa, sorun yok demektir.

İlk yapması gereken iş, halen başkanı olduğu Kıbrıs (Rum) Meclisini toplamalı ve Temmuz 1964 ile Haziran 1967 tarihli Enosis kararlarını kaldırmalı, arkasından da Genel Sekreteri olduğu AKEL’i Olağanüstü Genel Kurula çağırıp, 6 Mart 1966 tarihli kararın içindeki Enosis kararını iptal etmelidir.

Sonra da oturup, yukarıdaki koşullar altında kurulacak “Kıbrıs Federal Devleti”nin yapısını Kıbrıs’lı Türklerle tartışılabilir.

Aksi takdirde, egemenliğimizin ve eşitliğimizin olmadığı, KKTC’nin kurucu devlet sayılmadığı, Türk askerinin KKTC toprakları içinde yer almadığı, Türkiye’nin garantör olmadığı ve fiili garantisinin bulunmadığı bir öneriyi, adı ne olursa olsun tartışmak bile yanlış olacaktır ve asla böylesi bir görüşme için masaya bile oturulmamalıdır.

Tüm bunlara ilaveten de, görüşmelerin başlamasından önce Rum Meclisinde ENOSİS’’i yasaklayan bir Meclis kararının kabul edilmesi, ambargolara ve silahlanma çabalarına son verilmesi, “Sınırlarımız Girne’de Biter” sloganlarının terk edilmesi gerekmektedir.

Aksi takdirde ne Rum liderlerin sözlerine, ne de AB’nin Annan Planı dönemi benzeri uyduruk vaatlerine inanmak artık mümkün değildir.

The recent parliamentary elections gave Turkey the chance for a fresh start on a blank page with the US — or vice versa. The damaged bilateral ties now have the opportunity to be replaced with a strong tie made of a composite material produced in the southeastern region of Turkey.

After World War II, during the era of Cold War polarization, Turkey was a faithful and dedicated member of the NATO alliance as well one of the US’s most dependable and effective allies in the region.

As an ally of the US Turkey was the closest to the Russian border and the only dependable regional power able to blockade the Russian lust toward the Muslim Middle East countries.

Turkey now has the most successful moderate Muslim democracy in the Middle East and within the Muslim world. Actually, it can be classified within the premier league of democracy, if compared with democracies in the remaining 196 countries.

Since the foundation of modern Turkey in the early ‘20s, Turkey has experienced a tiring journey toward democracy, sometimes happy and sometimes shaky. The 2007 elections now seem like a happy ending with a 10 percent margin of female deputies in Parliament – the biggest-ever percentage since the founding days of the republic.

The close US-Turkey relations and solidarity began on good terms and a solid basis right after World War II, and the line of the relations-versus-time graph maintained an escalating trend up until early 2000s. At that time the sympathy of the Turkish people towards Americans and the US government was high.

Upon getting into power, the Bush regime suddenly turned everything upside-down. Almost as if US-Turkey relations were capsized wittingly, the bilateral relations dramatically collapsed, and Turkish sympathy toward Americans and the US government was almost grounded.

Even more eye-catching is the fact that Turks now see the US as the single biggest threat to their nation’s security. They think that Turkey may be next after Iraq — or maybe third in line after Iran and Syria.

In March 2003, 90 percent of the Turkish public opposed the US invasion of Iraq. The Turkish Parliament, irrespective of the AK Party’s solid majority, voted down a measure that would have allowed US forces to use Turkey’s soil for a cross-border operation into Iraq. Stung by Turkey’s rejection, the Bush administration conducted the war in Iraq without regard for Turkey’s interests.

The Turkish people never supported the PKK — a Kurdish terrorist group — and cannot stand the cross-border terrorist attacks the PKK launches against Turkish civilians and the Turkish Armed Forces. This was the point where the US entered the picture and came to be perceived by the Turkish people as a threat to their nation’s security. They think that the US is conducting patronage of the PKK and Kurds in Iraq, supplying all of their weapon and ammunition needs. A US-backed, autonomous, and increasingly spoiled Kurdistan Regional Government poses an existential threat to the Turkish people. Failure to address the reality of a sanctuary in Iraqi Kurdistan for members of the PKK enrages even the most moderate Turks.

If a unilateral referendum on the future status of Kirkuk — a Turkish land for millennia — places it under the jurisdiction of the Kurdistan Regional Government, it would be quite legitimate for Turkey to act on its threat to invade northern Iraq.

Last but not least, the White House’s strategic myopia was in full display during Turkey’s constitutional crisis in April. Turkey’s democrats found Washington’s silence during this turmoil to be deafening.

Although policymakers in Washington seem intent on letting an important opportunity fester until it becomes a crisis, the time is now for the US government to heal the wounds. The 60th Turkish government is made up solely of the AK Party, and it is the best time for the US to undertake a major diplomatic initiative to resuscitate US-Turkey relations.

A push in the EU, a little pat on the back in Cyprus and strong support against the PKK to stop cross-border terrorist attacks from northern Iraq would be a good cure for the wounds that are on the verge of gangrene.