Cyprus must not hit EU talks: Erdogan

ISTANBUL—The European Union should not allow the three-decade division of Cyprus to block Turkey’s accession to the 25-nation bloc, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.
“The Europen Union’s attitude on advancing (Turkey’s) accession without a hitch is very important. In my opinion, this process should not be blocked by artificial problems,” Erdogan told an international media conference here. “I hope the EU will see the big picture and not allow membership talks to be deadlocked over political issues that have different interlocutors and a different platform (than the EU) for a solution,” he said. Erdogan was referring to Cyprus, divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third in response to a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at uniting the island with Greece.
The eastern Mediterranean island, has become one of the biggest obstacles to Turkey’s membership talks with the European Union which began last year. Ankara must open its ports and airports to craft registered in the flag of the Republic of Cyprus, an EU member whose Greek Cypriot government it does not recognise, under a customs union agreement with the bloc.
Turkey refuses to do so until the EU eases the international isolation of the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), as it promised to do after Turkish Cypriots voted in favour of a UN settlement plan to reunify the island in April 2004. Ankara says Greek Cypriots, who voted down the peace plan, are using their EU membership as leverage to hamper Turkey’s bid and extract concessions in the Cyprus conflict. Several European leaders have warned that Turkey’s failure to honour its obligations under the customs deal could result in suspension of membership talks. EU term president Finland drew up a plan to solve the dispute, but was forced to scrap planned meetings with Turkish and Cypriot officials this weekend after the parties failed to agree on the format of the talks.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, is expected to criticize Turkey on the issue in a key report to be issued Wednesday on the country’s progress towards membership.—Agencies