Interviewer: And that’s the end of it.
Interviewee: At the end of this process, every member state will ratify the accession treaty that approves whether Turkey can come in or not. The European parliament will also give its ascent.
Interviewer: Uh-hmm.
Interviewee: Some states will require a referendum, very few of those however. It’s, to me, unclear the French first did have a referendum and then they were debating whether to withdraw that need for a referendum. It’s unclear to me where it has ended up. But, you will have to get the agreement of it. We can probably assume 28 member states because Croatia is likely to come in before Turkey. So you would have to get the agreement of 28 member states. It would depend on whether those governments are willing to go against public opinion. Also, if we think that this is likely to be 10 years away, public opinion may have changed considerably. So, what is happening right now is that in the EU, you also have a view that things are not moving forward in Turkey. So for example, let’s go back to the chapters for a minute. In the chapters, 10 have been opened. And one has been completed, which is a Science and Research one, so it’s pretty technical. And most of the chapters that are under negotiations are pretty technical. Because of the Ankara Protocol, because Turkey has not opened its ports, 8 more chapters would have been that ready but it’s ready to open. The Europeans would like to start negotiating, they cannot start. They cannot conclude any others because of the lack of the ports being opened.
Interviewer: Is that because of Turkey’s desire to protect its own?
Interviewee: Well, I wouldn’t say protect the ports but I think the Turkey feels with some justice that the Cypriotes have not been as forth – the Cypress government has not been as forthcoming in the negotiations over the island’s future and resolving the question on the island.
Interviewer: Uh-hmm.