CYPRUS: The EU agreed yesterday to issue a response to Turkey's refusal to recognise EU member Cyprus and Nicosia threatened to block the start of Ankara's membership talks if it was not satisfied.
"Most member states agreed with the presidency that there was a need for a counter-declaration," a spokesman for EU president Britain said after ambassadors of the 25-nation bloc discussed Turkey's July 29th unilateral statement.
Legal advisers told the envoys the Turkish position had no legal impact on its customs union with the EU, but the spokesman said: "Of course there are political implications."
He said EU foreign ministers would discuss a rejoinder when they meet in Newport, Wales, today and it could be issued very soon. Turkey is due to open entry talks on October 3rd.
However, Cypriot government spokesman Kypros Chrytsostomides said Britain's first draft counter-declaration was unacceptable, and warned Nicosia would block the negotiating mandate for the EU-Turkey talks if the response did not meet its expectations.
"If it is not satisfactory then the negotiating framework of the EU with Turkey will not be discussed," he told reporters. He accused Britain, the former colonial power in Cyprus, of lacking the necessary impartiality.
Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn insisted that Turkey had met EU leaders' terms for opening negotiations by bringing into force key reforms and signing a protocol extending its EU customs union to all 25 member states. But France joined Cyprus in pushing for further clarification, with the Cypriot envoy calling for a timetable for Turkey to recognise the Nicosia government, diplomats said.