Turkey Adds Cyprus

From the DW:

"Turkey to ditch visa demands for Greek Cypriots"

The government in Ankara will stop demanding visas from Greek Cypriots visiting Turkey, but it will not recognize the Cypriot government in Nicosia. Turkey is hoping for far greater visa-free perks of its own, very soon.  Turkey announced on Tuesday that Greek Cypriots would be able to visit the country without a visa in future. "This doesn't mean the recognition of Cyprus. If the EU abolishes visas for Turkish citizens, then we will also abolish visas for the remaining EU countries," said a Turkish official. The island nation has long been arguably the single greatest obstacle to Turkey’s dealings with the European Union. Divided for decades, Ankara only recognizes the Turkish-controlled north while the majority-Greek southern half of Cyprus is internationally recognized and a member state of the EU. EU member states can veto another country's bid to join the Union without any further support within the bloc. As part of the refugee relocation deal with the EU, Turkey negotiated the chance of visa-free travel for its citizens in Europe. A deadline for the European Commission to decide whether to grant Turkey this, a deal that in theory is dependent on Ankara meeting 72 preconditions, falls on Wednesday. According to Germany's "Bild" newspaper, the BBC and others, citing EU sources, Europe would approve the move on Wednesday despite Turkey not having fulfilled every condition. Under the refugee deal between Turkey and the EU, Ankara would take back migrants who had crossed into Europe illegally, in exchange for a number of concessions, including reigniting the review process for Turkey's EU membership and entry into the Schengen free movement zone for short-term travel without visas for the country's 79 million inhabitants. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened the EU in early April that Turkey would pull out of its commitments if these parts of the agreement were not implemented by June. "Some three million people are being fed on our budget," the president said back then. "We have received a lot of thanks for our actions on the refugees and in the fight against terrorism. But we are not doing this for thanks." Among other perks, Turkey was also promised between 3 billion and 6 billion euros to accommodate refugees, and a restart to its long-stalled bid to one day join the EU.

^ This was a fore-gone conclusion the minute the Greek-controlled part of Cyprus became a member of the EU. The Turkish-controlled part of Cyprus is officially part of the EU too, but it was put on hold because of mainland Turkey's control over that portion of the island. The Turks want visa-free travel within the EU and so have to give Greek Cyprus the same travel status as other EU member states. That is de facto recognition no matter how you slice it. The EU wants Turkey to take the migrants and keep them out of the EU so both sides see an understanding. It's clear (from a past referendum and recent actions) that the Turkish Cypriots (not to be confused with mainland Turks who were moved to the Turkish-controlled part of Cyprus after the 1974 Turkish invasion) want better ties with both the Greek Cypriots and the EU. The Greek Cypriots, on the other hand, seem to know they hold all the cards now since the Turkish-controlled part of Cyprus is not recognized by any country except Turkey and the Greek Cypriots now hold more swing within the EU since they are a member state. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out in the end between the EU and Turkey, Cyprus and Turkey, Greek-controlled Cyprus and Turkish-controlled Cyprus. ^

http://www.dw.com/en/turkey-to-ditch-visa-demands-for-greek-cypriots/a-19230873