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| Turkey Rejects Deadline on Cyprus Issue |
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Turkish Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul on Tuesday rejected any deadline or what he called "blackmail" on the Cyprus issue, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported. "Issues like this can not be worked out by blackmail or setting deadlines," Gul told reporters after a brief meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan and chief negotiator for EU talks Ali Babacan. The EU has urged Turkey to accept a Finnish formula for opening Turkish ports to shipping from EU-member Greek Cyprus, in return for allowing the Turkish Cypriots to trade through a seaport in northern Cyprus. Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, whose country is holding the current EU rotating presidency, said on Monday that time was running out for Turkey and its EU entry talks could be negatively affected unless Ankara agreed to open its harbors and airports to Greek Cypriot traffic, according to local media. Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that his government will not take any step if they do not agree with the offered proposals. "Our views are obvious, and we will continue our talks. But, we will not take any step if we do not agree with the proposals they lay before us," he said. According to the EU progress report on Turkey and strategy paper released on Nov. 8, the leaders of the 25-nation bloc will make a suggestion over whether Turkey's refusal to open ports will negatively affect the relations during their meeting in mid-December. Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey militarily intervened and occupied the north of Cyprus following a coup by a group of Greek officers. The internationally-recognized Republic of Cyprus entered the EU in the year of 2004 in the name of the whole island. The EU has said that Turkey, with which it began membership talks in October last year, must open its ports and airports to traffic from Cyprus this year under the additional protocol, otherwise it will end the accession talks with Turkey. (Xinhua News Agency November 22, 2006) |
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