ABSTRACT
The Turkish-Greek problems are not new, are well-delineated and have proved unsolvable until very recently when a flurry of interrelated events brought them into the limelight once again: mutual understanding created by the earthquakes that hit both countries in late summer 1999; Turkish acceptance of the EU Helsinki Summit (1999) decisions, comprising acknowledgement of Turkey’s candidature, lifting of Greek veto and veiled Turkish acceptance of the Union’s relations with Cyprus; agreement to refer Greek-Turkish problems to the International Court of Justice should they not solve them by the end of 2004; EU’s promise at long last in the Copenhagen Summit to consider starting membership negotiations with Turkey at the end of 2004 or soon thereafter; imminent Greek Cypriot EU membership on behalf of the whole island; successful Greek efforts to involve the Union into the Cyprus problem; and finally a protracted plan by the UN Secretary-General to solve it within a timeframe concomitant with the EU enlargement agenda.
