Turkey's secret agenda on the Cyprus deal

"The visit has achieved the objectives we set at the outset ? To meet the Turkish prime minister and foreign minister, who can take on board the positions of the Greek Cypriot side," said Greek Cypriot Progressive Party of Working People (AKEL) head Andros Kyprianou on his return to the island after visiting Turkey over the weekend.

"The second objective was to hear from their side and possibly to try to diagnose what might be hidden behind their words," Kyprianou added.

In other words, he was trying to decipher Turkey's "secret agenda" for any possible Cyprus deal. 

If you ask me, the most evil secret agenda Ankara might have is to see the whole island become a huge construction site after a resolution. In fact, I was very concerned to read in daily Hürriyet that Turkish Cypriot contractors have already inked a deal with their Turkish counterparts to rebuild the "ghost town" of Varosha, as hopes of finding a peaceful solution to the Cyprus issue increase thanks to accelerated talks between the leaders of the Turkish and Greek communities on the island.  

Cyprus is known to Turks as the "green island." But I'm not sure how green it will remain if TOK?, Turkey's notorious housing agency, made its entry to the island. If I were a Greek Cypriot, I would rather accept a limited number of Turkish soldiers on the island than accept a flood of Turkish construction companies.

But in all seriousness, if Turkey has any secret agenda, the only one I can think of would be satisfying its need to be part of an international success story. It badly needs one, which is why it is acting with utmost precaution on Cyprus and seems to have learned from past mistakes.

One of the lessons learned from the past is the need to leave the...