¶4. (C) Bot told Ambassador Sobel that he is determined to get
a yes for Turkey at the December 17 Council meeting,
asserting that this is the most important thing he hopes to
accomplish this year. He stated categorically that the
Council decision will use the October 6 Commission report
language on open-ended negotiations: the Austrians, he
said, will not get what they want. On the other hand, Bot
argued that Turkey must eventually agree to sign the
protocol to the Ankara Agreement (effectively recognizing
Cyprus) — which he expected them to do at the absolutely
last minute on December 17 or early December 18 (after
midnight) — or there is no deal. Bot passed this message
to Turkish FM Gul several times over the past few weeks, he
said, but Gul so far remained adamant that Turkey would not
sign. Shrugging, Bot said that if that remained the Turkish
position there was nothing he could do as this was
non-negotiable; if Turkey did sign, he added, then Cyprus
would come under enormous pressure to drop all other
additional demands.

¶5. (C) Bot asked for U.S. assistance in convincing Turkey to
suspend military operations in the Aegean, at least through
December 17, as they were providing a pretext for Greece to
agitate against Turkish accession. According to Bot, Turkish
PM Erdogan had told him recently that he could not stop the
flights because he did not control the military — an
assertion Bot found disturbing. Asked by Ambassador Sobel
about a possible date for starting negotiations with Turkey,
Bot said that it would almost certainly be late 2005; he
noted that in public statements he sometimes added or early
2006 as a sop to the French, but did not believe it.

Υπενθυμίζεται ότι στη σύνοδο δόθηκε στην Τουρκία το καθεστώς χώρας υποψήφιας προς ένταξη. Η συνέχιση των παραβιάσεων θα μπορούσε να δώσει κίνητρο στην Ελλάδα να ασκήσει βέτο στην παραχώρηση του καθεστώτος, ανέφερε η Ολλανδία που προέδρευε της ΕΕ εκείνο το εξάμηνο.

Η Τουρκία έχει υπογράψει το έγγραφο αλλά δεν έχει επικυρωθεί από την Εθνοσυνέλευση και, για το λόγο αυτό, τα τουρκικά λιμάνια και αεροδρόμια παραμένουν κλειστά για τα κυπριακά πλοία και αεροδρόμια.