Dear friends,

The historic EU Summit in Brussels on 17 December 2004 was aptly named a Turkish Bazaar. It was dominated by the decision to give Turkey a commencement date (3 October 2005) for negotiations for EU accession and characterised by haggling, threats and various forms of intimidation with Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan the undisputed protagonist. The face saving compromise gave all parties a sort of victory, mainly so as to satisfy their constituents. The EU (whose citizens do not want Turkey as a member) gave Turkey a date attaching stringent conditions. Such conditions and safeguards (eg restriction on Turks living and working in other EU countries, negotiations can be suspended on the request of 1/3rd of members) have not been previously applied to other applicant countries. Turkey got the date (but not in the first semester of 2005 as it wanted) and most importantly that the talks would lead to full membership and not a special status as proposed by some EU members. It did not achieve TurkeyοΏ½s major goal of avoiding οΏ½open ended talksοΏ½ ie there is no guarantee that the negotiations will lead to EU membership. The Greek side got the very minimum that was possible (and it nearly lost this when Erdogan threatened to abandon the Summit and go back to Turkey) in that Turkey will, before 3 October, 2005, sign a customs union with Cyprus. This falls far short of full diplomatic recognition of Cyprus. It should be noted that Turkey signed nothing which means that further pressure will now be exerted on Cyprus to, once again, agree to the Annan Plan before the 3 October 2005.

What conclusions can be drawn? Firstly, this was, indeed, a historic moment for the EU, Turkey and Hellenism. Turkey was, once again, (after 300 years) at EuropeοΏ½s gates οΏ½ and it is no co-incidence that Austria is one of the countries adamantly opposed to full Turkish membership. The process for Turkish membership has been deliberately structured so as to be long and fraught with obstacles that Turkey will most likely fail to overcome. Even if it manages to do so Austria, Belgium and France have declared that their consent is subject to a referendum of their respective peoples. Other countries will most likely follow which deprives Turkey of any certainty from the achieved result on 17 December. The Greek side achieved little οΏ½ not that it was possible to achieve much taking into account the extraordinary pressure that was exerted upon it.

However, what is completely illogical, (if not schizophrenic), is that Turkey occupies a full member of the EU (in violation of international law and contemptuous disregard of UN Resolutions) and refuses to recognise this EU member on whom it is dependent for its positive vote, and, indeed, obtained  οΏ½YESοΏ½ from Cyprus without removing one of its 35,000 soldiers of occupation, not recognising Cyprus and not even initialling a protocol that it will enter into a customs union!  ErdoganοΏ½s disdain for legality and EU institutions may be summed up in his threat to walk out: - οΏ½οΏ½You prefer to satisfy 600,000 Greek Cypriots instead of 70 million TurksοΏ½. And the EUοΏ½s solidarity for a member state (Cyprus) is encapsulated in its desperate declaration to console Turkey: οΏ½signing the customs union with Cyprus is not recognitionοΏ½everyone trades with Taiwan but no one recognises itοΏ½οΏ½ Nevertheless, TurkeyοΏ½s European orientation is an essential ingredient for HellenismοΏ½s interests. A Turkey outside of Europe will pose a constant threat and will not be conducive to a Cyprus settlement. The EU Summit showed that whilst the Greek side may be in a strong legal position, its negotiating power is minimal due to its lesser military,

economic and geographical influence as compared to Turkey. Intense pressure will again be exerted on the Greek side in 2005 as the 3 October approaches and accordingly, it is imperative that national unity prevails. After all, it is the Greek side that holds TurkeyοΏ½s future in its hands.

SAE PRESIDIUM MEETING

An intense meeting was held with Deputy Foreign Minister Panayiotis Skandalakis. The discussion centred on the new executive law which will be prepared in draft form and distributed for comment to all organizations before it is enacted. It was also announced that the Foreign Ministry will soon establish a new service for the Apodimoi which will provide documents and certificates and other services within 24 hours. On 14 December, 2004 the Writer was part of the delegation to the Hellenic Parliament that addressed the Interparliamentary Committee for Apodimoi and I had the opportunity to raise the major issues of concern for Oceania.

ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE

One of the conditions imposed by the EU on Turkey on 17 December as a pre-requisite for EU Membership is that Turkey must respect the religious and human rights of its minorities. This comes at a time when Turkey has reneged on promises to re-open the Halki Theological School and provocatively denies the ecumenicality of the Constantinopolitan Patriarchate. Further, it has recently confiscated 75% of the Ecumenical PatriarchateοΏ½s large land holdings and applied a 42% tax (retroactive to 1999 οΏ½ illegal under all western legal systems) on the PatriarchateοΏ½s Hospital. Readers may also be reminded that this EU aspirant continues to deny Armenian and Pontian Genocides; violates Hellenic airspace on a daily basis; disputes HellasοΏ½ rights to its Aegean continental shelf and territorial waters and claims that certain Aegean islets are now οΏ½grey zonesοΏ½ which Hellas can no longer treat as its territory not to mention its intransigence on Cyprus, violation of Kurdish rights and ongoing torture of political prisoners. And the Turks cannot understand why they are not welcome in the EU!

SOCIAL SECURITY AGREEMENT

 The Australian Government has responded to the Hellenic Government and now awaits a written reply, and subject thereto, a meeting between the respective ministers may be possible in the first half of 2005.

PAN HELLENIC GAMES

Applications for the Pan Hellenic Games which will be held in Sydney on 25-28 March 2005 are still being accepted. This will be a very exciting and unique event and I urge you to tell friends who may not know about it. Subject to numbers there will be competitions at a junior and senior level in swimming, athletics, tae kwondo, weight lifting, wrestling, tennis and senior soccer.

As 2004 comes to an end οΏ½ this fantastic year for Hellenism οΏ½ may 2005 give us the happiness and pride we felt during the Athens Olympics and the European Nations Football triumph.

Kali Xronia!

Costa Vertzayias
29 December 2004