Bagis: "Turkey may consider a Taiwanese style diplomatic arrangement for Greek Cypriots"

Turkey may consider a Taiwanese-style diplomatic arrangement to the Greek Cyprus administration to help drive Cypriot reunification talks resuming on Monday under U.N. pressure for a breakthrough, offering to open its ports, airports and airspace to Greek Cyprus. Turkish EU Minister Egemen Bagis told Reuters he believed a simple arrangement could help free up talks over the east Mediterranean island that has brought NATO partners Greece and Turkey to the brink of war on several occasions. "The minute a British Airways, an Air France, a KLM, a Lufthansa plane lands at Ercan airport (in northern Cyprus), Turkey is ready to open all of her airports, sea ports and air space to Greek Cypriot planes and vessels," Bagis said."The fact that an Al Italia or an Air France plane is landing at Ercan would not mean that they recognize the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)," Bagis said in an interview late on Sunday. "This would be like the Taiwanese model - a trade relationship." Many states, forced by Beijing to choose between China and breakaway Taiwan, choose diplomatic ties with the former; but Taiwan retains international contacts on a trading basis. It was the first time Turkey had officially invoked the "Taiwanese model", seeking explicitly to decouple such ties from any suggestion of diplomatic recognition.