Stratfor Faux Pas

Stratfor has an article on Turkey's Accession to the European Union. Both, its Summary and Analysis are inaccurate. The Summary part of the article begins by stating that “Turkey should recognize Cyprus by the end of 2006, Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel said Feb. 21.” What Mr. Schuessel really said was that Turkey was obligated to open its ports to Cypriot vessels by the end of the year. Nothing new here, the European Union, for quite some time now, has asked Turkey to open its ports to Cypriot vessels. The fact is that Cyprus and the European Union as a whole, met their obligations to Turkey in 2005. It is now time for Turkey to reciprocate. The Analysis part of the article states that “The Austrians effectively sided with the Greek Cypriots against Turkey -- an agreement made stronger by Vienna and Athens' memories of fighting Ankara. The Greeks remember battling Turkey over Cyprus in 1974,” what kind of revisionism is this? Athens memories of fighting Ankara, battling Turkey over Cyprus in ’74 ... are these statements made to justify the unjustifiable? Furthermore, if Turkey wishes to be anchored in Europe, then, like every other candidate country before it, large or small, must meet the criteria for membership.