Turkey yesterday marked the anniversary of its 1974 invasion of Cyprus with a call for the "partial integration" with the island's occupied north. The Turkish deputy Prime Minister, Mr Bulent Ecevit, who as prime minister originally ordered the invasion, said integration of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was inevitable since the EU gave a green light last week to Cyprus for membership and excluded Turkey.
"The TRNC will live forever as an independent state. But its foreign policy and defence will be handled by Turkey," Mr Ecevit told an anniversary ceremony.
A joint declaration issued by Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots outlined a proposed series of steps toward integration, including efforts on defence, foreign and economic policies. "Any attack on the TRNC wil be considered asas attack on the Republic of Turkey. In this context, a joint defence conceptwill be established between Turkey, and the TRNC," the statement said.
Ankara say allowing Cyprus, run by a Green Cypriot government, to join the EUbefore solving the division of the island would only reinforce the tensionsbetween Greek and Turkish Cypriots. "The world must understand that Turkeyis not bluffing. It proved in 1974 that it does not bluff," the TurkishCypriot leader, Mr Rauf Denktash, said.
The Cypriot President, Mr Glafkos Clerides, said he was willing to negotiatein the spirit of goodwill to reunite the eastern Mediterranean island. Butwould not accept a solution that would compromise the existence of GreekCypriots.