A pipeline across the Cyprus question

Clearly, Turkey became the flavour of the day having clinched the pipeline deal it has been working on for years. The 1,730 km pipeline, costing 2.4 billion, will cross through Georgia to Turkey8217;s Mediterranean port of Ceyhan.

As if to provide a stark contrast, President Clinton was greeted by protestors during his visit to Athens. The protests had nothing to do with the pipeline deal but were rather an expression of Greek anger against the US-led air strikes on Serbia in the summer. There are two sources ofSe-rbian-Greek camaraderie: the common bond of the Orthodox Church and negative memories of the Ottoman Empire.

The OSCE summit may well be remembered for the harshest Russian-US exchanges since the end of the Cold War on an issue on which all the summiteers had very strong views: Moscow8217;s military action in Chechnya.

But decisions in Istanbul, like the pipe-line deal, also shed light on issues which the specialists can now place under their respective microscopes. Chechnya came into focus in an obvious way, of course, when Yeltsin and Clinton clashed. Clinton maintained that attacks on civilians would invite a fundamentalist backlash, which would have ramifications beyond Russia8217;s borders.

Yeltsin8217;s incantation was that it was Russia8217;s internal affair and those guilty of air strikes against Serbia could hardly strike a holier-than-thou posture.

All of this dominated the first day8217;s proceedings at Istanbul. The less obvious way Chechnya came to be discussed was when delegates were heard murmuring thatRussia had been kept out of the pipeline deal because of the turbulence in that state which lies on the pipeline route. In other words the strategic importance of Grozny in terms of oil and gas pipelines came to be discussed on the margins of one of the world8217;s most important summits.In brief Chechnya is not only about Islam and terrorism; it is about movement of hydrocarbons as well.

The other issue that came up on the margins of the conference was that of Cyprus. The Cyprus issue surfaces under the most awkward circumstances. After Turkey8217;s military intervention in Cyprus in 1974 to halt alleged ethnic cleansing of the Turkish Cypriots. Ankara has been the only capital in the world to accord diplomatic recognition to the Turkish Re-public of Northern Cyprus with a population of over 200,000.

Meanwhile the UN and other world bodies recognise the Greek Cypriots in the southern part of the island with a population of over 600,000 as the government of Cyprus, 8220;pending the resolution of the Cyprusquestion8221;.Since Turkey was hosting the OSCE summit and the Republic of Cyprus the one that Turkey does not recognise is a fullfledged member of OSCE, there arose a piquant situation.

If Turkey, as hosts, were to invite Glafcos Clerides as the president of Cyprus, Ankara would have conferred recognition on the de jure status quo on the island as opposed to the de facto partition which, interestingly, took place in 1974 when Turkey8217;s current prime minister, Bulent Ecevit, was in his earlier incarnation also the prime minister of Turkey.

If on the other hand Ankara had invited to the conference Rauf Denktas, president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Denktas would have had no recognition among the other OSCE leaders. Apparently the problem was circumvented because it was put out that Clerides was invited by the OSCE and the invitation for President Demirel8217;s banquet was issued to Clerides, not 8220;Pres-ident8221; Clerides.

President Clinton8217;s itinerary Tu-rkey, Greece, Kosovo undersocres theimportance he attaches to this region wh-ere remnants of Hellenism, Ottoman empire, Asustro Hungarian empire, Roman Catholicism, the Orthodox Church, Isl-am and Christianity are all in an almighty scrum.

At a time when membership of the European Union, the OSCE, NATO expansion, European defence independent of NATO are all on the fast track, Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia, Macedonia, Serbia and Cyprus cannot be allowed to simmer eternally.

The pipeline deal gives heart to Turkey and, in its perception, brings it that much closer to being accorded membership of the European Union. However th-ese also happen to be President Clinton8217;s last months in office. In next year8217;s presidential elections, every candidate will have to keep an eye on the large ethnic Greek vote in the US.

It is in these circumstances of promise and challenge that the Denktas Clerides indirect talks take place under the auspices of the UN Secretary General in New York from December 3. President Clinton would like to add another trophy to hislist of international successes. But alas, the talks in New York, expected to last ten days, will have to be continued a little while longer until the next US administration which does not have to look over its shoulder towards its Greek constituency concludes the Cyprus deal with a sense of fair play.