FOCUS-Greece offer EU way to make Turkey candidate

By Jeremy Gaunt

ATHENS, July 12 (Reuters) - Greece said on Monday it would lift objections to Turkey joining the ranks of European Union candidates if Cyprus was allowed into the bloc without the EU first demanding a settlement on the divided island.

Athens would also expect open support from its EU partners in its longstanding disputes with Ankara over territory in the Aegean Sea, Alternate Foreign Minister Yannos Kranidiotis told Reuters in an interview. Laying out a political map for its EU partners who, along with the United States, want Turkey secured in the West, Kranidiotis said it would be preferable if Turkey met the requirements that EU leaders have set for it to be designated an EU candidate.

These include better relations with Athens, improved human rights and democracy, and a solution in Cyprus, divided since  Turkey invaded the northern part in 1974 in response to a Greek Cypriot coup engineered by the junta then ruling Greece. But if Turkey failed to fulfil the criteria and EU members still wanted to offer it formal candidacy -- possibly at an EU summit in Helsinki in December -- then Greece would allow it under two conditions.

"The guarantees are first, a statement that Cyprus accession (to the EU) would go ahead unhindered by a political solution being a prerequisite, and second, a public statement of solidarity from the European Union on the Aegean," he said. In those circumstances Greece would also lift a longstanding veto on EU funds going to Turkey, Kranidiotis said.

A number of EU states have said that Cyprus, a candidate country that otherwise is close to qualifying, should not be allowed into the EU without a settlement of the 25-year division.

Greece, in response, has threatened to veto enlargement if Cyprus is not included. Kranidiotis said simply that Greece would not be the first to wield its veto -- a warning to others in the EU not to. The international community, meanwhile, is trying to push for a peace settlement in Cyprus with the Group of Eight major powers calling for talks to begin between the two sides in October.

Kranidiotis said the move was a positive development but was not confident they would yield results. "I'm not optimistic, but this is an opportunity," he said.

Cyprus -- where Turkey maintains a garrison of 30,000 troops and supports a state viewed as illegal by the international community -- was the single biggest hurdle to good relations between Athens and Ankara, he said. Turkey, however, did not consider there to be a problem having "solved" the issue with its invasion to protect the Turkish Cypriot community, Kranidiotis said.

Greece and Turkey have nonetheless made moves recently to ease tensions between them. Talks between senior Turkish and Greek officials are due to begin in the next few days on a number of issues, including terrorism, illegal immigration and tourism. But the main areas of dispute -- Cyprus and Turkish questioning of sovereignty on various Aegean islands -- remain off the table.