Turkey is telling Brussels it has exactly one job on the Cyprus issue: fulfill a 2004 EU pledge to end the isolation of ...

Turkey is telling Brussels it has exactly one job on the Cyprus issue: fulfill a 2004 EU pledge to end the isolation of the Turkish Cypriot community, and nothing more. Ankara has conveyed this position directly to European Commission Executive Vice President Rafael Fitto and other senior EU officials, according to reporting by Kathimerini. The demand centers on what Turkey calls the "Three As," meaning direct trade, direct flights, and direct relations between Turkish Cypriots and the EU. Ankara is framing these as urgent confidence-building measures and accusing the Republic of Cyprus of imposing what it calls discrimination on Turkish Cypriots. Turkey is also pushing Brussels to intervene with Nicosia over citizenship for children of mixed marriages between Turkish Cypriots and settlers, demanding that the Republic of Cyprus issue them EU passports. Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman reportedly carried the same message to Fitto, though he initially refused to meet the EU official before reversing course after an intervention by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The bigger picture is that Ankara's stance keeps the EU sidelined from any actual reunification process. UN Secretary-General Guterres has already announced a 5+1 multilateral conference involving the two communities, the three guarantor powers, and the UN, with no EU seat at the table. Meanwhile, the EU's leverage over Turkey is shrinking fast. Four of seven major EU-Turkey diplomatic dossiers have already moved forward with zero concessions from Ankara on Cyprus. High-level political dialogues have resumed, Turkey has attended EU foreign minister meetings, the European Investment Bank has returned to Turkey, and visa facilitations have been granted to Turkish citizens. What remains is a Customs Union upgrade and full visa liberalization, but neither can be fast-tracked. Turkey's path into EU defense cooperation, including the SAFE program, would also require Ankara to drop its longstanding casus belli threat against Greece, something Ankara shows no sign of doing. In fact, Turkey is reportedly close to enshrining its expansionist Blue Homeland doctrine into national legislation. #Cyp...