|
Cyprus Relations with Turkey
As was the case with Greek Cypriots and their mainland,
relations between the Turkish Cypriots and Turkey could be
characterized as close and cooperative, although many
observers
detected strains barely beneath the surface. Turkey
usually
supported Turkish Cypriot policies in their broadest
sense,
although tactical differences often occurred. On several
key
occasions in the UN settlement process, Ankara pressed the
Turkish
Cypriot government to be more forthcoming. From 1975 until
the
declaration of the "TRNC" in 1983, for example, it was
reported on
numerous occasions that Turkey had persuaded Denktas to
delay his
unilateral declaration of independence.
The main institutional vehicle for Turkish-Turkish
Cypriot
cooperation was the Coordination Committee (Koordinasyon
Komitesi)
formed in the 1960s to administer the extensive economic
relationship between the two. The participants in these
coordination activities, which became more ad hoc as
Turkish
Cypriot bureaucratic competence grew, were representatives
of the
prime minister's office in Turkey and a collection of key
decision
makers from the Turkish Cypriot executive branch. From
1974 to 1983
coordination was close, including Turkish participation in
Turkish
Cypriot cabinet meetings. After the establishment of the
"TRNC,"
such contact was replaced with more formal state-to-state
relations. Turkey demonstrated in various ways its
recognition of
the separateness of the Turkish Cypriot political entity,
although
opposition parties and many observers believed that the
Turkish
Embassy in the north was engaged in activities beyond the
normal
purview of a foreign mission.
The economic dimension of bilateral relations also
showed its
strains. After 1974, the Turkish contribution to the
Turkish
Cypriot budget was estimated at 80 percent, but by 1990
that
subsidy was reported to be in the 30 to 40 percent range.
The
opposition press in Turkey occasionally complained that
aid and
assistance to northern Cyprus was an economic burden on
Turkey,
whose economic performance was uneven in the 1980s. For
their part,
Turkish Cypriots complained of inadequate aid, the failure
as of
late 1990 to establish a customs union, and the
importation of
Turkey's economic problems, most notably rampant inflation
in the
late 1970s and again in the late 1980s. Relations were
also
strained by social differences between mainland settlers
and the
higher levels of education and more urban and secular
lifestyles of
most Turkish Cypriots.
Data as of January 1991
|
