Turkish press defiant on Cyprus

The controversy over Turkey's bid for EU membership - the focus of last week's EU talks in Wales - has fuelled a heated debate in the Turkish press, with expressions of defiance over Cyprus.

A commentary in Hurriyet praises recent hardline statements on Cyprus by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul.

It wishes they had shown the "same courage and mastery and come out with these outbursts" during the 17 December Copenhagen summit in 2004, when the EU agreed to start entry talks with Turkey.

"Then we would not be in the situation we are in now," it says.

At the time, both politicians thought they could get the Union to open its doors "by saying 'yes' to whatever Europe asks".

"How good it would have been if they had seen at the outset that Europe needs Turkey as much as Turkey needs Europe," the commentary adds.

'No recognition'

An editorial in Cumhuriyet agrees that the latest statements by Prime Minister Erdogan and Foreign Minister Gul are "entirely proper".

"Turkey can neither consent to a 'privileged partnership' nor recognise the Greek administration in Cyprus as a legitimate state," it insists.

The moderate, pro-Islamic Zaman complains in turn in its commentary that the EU's draft Cyprus declaration is "more harsh and malicious than expected".

"While the EU is doing all it can to make Turkey's EU target more obscure with every passing day, it is also in a great hurry to get what it can from Turkey in the process," it says.

An even greater indignation is expressed in the conservative Tercuman.

"If some countries insist on turning Cyprus into an EU issue, Turkey will get to the point of telling its public 'We have had it up to here'," it says.

It goes on to say that the reason for this will not even be "sensitivity about Cyprus", but reaction against "Europe's unreliability".

"Erdogan is right: You don't make an offer to stay friends when you are in the process of registering a marriage. And new terms are not put forward just as the marriage papers are being handed over," it argues.

'Ankara criteria'

A commentary in the centrist Milliyet invites Turkey to get tough and go its own way, by changing the "Copenhagen Criteria" for EU entry into "Ankara Criteria".

"If it can do that, it will continue to become stronger politically and economically," the commentary says.

In this way, Turkey - already strong in military terms - would gain more power.

"Then everybody - including the Europeans who are hesitating to discuss Turkey's importance today - everybody would be lining up to develop relations with Ankara," it says.

Another paper is starkly pessimistic on Turkey's EU chances.

"Ultimately, everybody knows that whether it is 10, 15 or 25 years, it is not going to happen. Turkey will not join the EU," says a commentary in the centre-right Aksam.

"They know that, and our people know that."

At the same time it admits that there is also the matter of daily politics, which cannot wait for 15-20 years.

"An 'excuse' is needed to rescue the current situation. In the end, the negotiations will start. But will there be something important in them? No! Both they and we know that. Maybe the EU will not even exist in 20 years time!"

BBC Monitoring selects and translates news from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages. It is based in Caversham, UK, and has several bureaus abroad.