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3RD Finland vows more efforts to mend Turkey-Cyprus ties

dpa German Press Agency
Published: Monday November 13, 2006

Brussels- Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja on Monday vowed more efforts to mend ties between Turkey and Cyprus in a bid to avert a so-called "train-crash" in Ankara's membership talks with the European Union. But Tuomioja, whose country holds the current EU presidency, warned he was not certain his efforts would lead to agreement between Ankara and Nicosia.

"I cannot guarantee success," said Tuomioja, adding: "It is possible we cannot reach agreement."

"Nevertheless, we continue our efforts because the consequences of failure are not in anyone's interest," he said.

The Finnish Foreign Minister said he did not want a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels on December 14-15 to be dominated by the bloc's increasingly strained relations with Turkey.

"There will be no summit on Turkey," said Tuomioja, adding that he expected the European Commission to give its verdict on whether to continue or suspend the entry negotiations with Turkey before the summit and a meeting of EU foreign ministers on December 11.

EU enlargement chief Olli Rehn did not confirm a December 6 date for the commission's final opinion. But he said the recommendation would be made well ahead of the mid-December EU summit, if Turkey did not meet its obligation on Cyprus.

Finland is struggling to hammer out a compromise deal under which the Turkish Cypriot port of Famagusta would be opened for trade with the EU in return for a move by Ankara to allow Greek Cypriot ships into its harbours.

Turkey does not have diplomatic relations with the Republic of Cyprus which entered the EU as part of the bloc's 2004 expansion.

Ankara has long argued that it will only comply with EU demands once the bloc ends its current economic boycott of the Turkish part of Cyprus.

In EU talks in Brussels on Monday, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier warned against an escalation of the EU's dispute over the issue.

He insisted, however, that Turkey must fulfil its obligations on Cyprus.

Steinmeier said no EU state had asked for a severance of negotiations with Ankara for the moment. On the contrary, all ministers had pointed to Europe's interest in close relations with Turkey, he said.

"We want to continue working for a compromise on the basis of the Finnish proposals," said Steinmeier adding he did not want relations with Turkey to cloud the horizon when Germany takes over the EU presidency from Finland on January 1, 2007.

"I would like not to be immediately confronted with this on January 1," the German Foreign Minister said.

Echoing similar concerns, Rehn said his focus was on building bridges with Turkey.

Several other EU ministers also urged Turkey to meet the bloc's demands for progress in normalizing relations with Cyprus ahead of the mid-December EU summit.

"We hope that there is an agreement in the Turkey-Cyprus issue before the December summit," said Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot.

But EU chief diplomat Javier Solana admitted Ankara had yet to show compliance with European demands that it open its ports to Greek Cypriot vessels.

There was "no encouraging sign" from Turkey for the moment, said Solana.

Highlighting the EU's concerns over flagging political reforms in Turkey, Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said he was worried about "stagnation" in the country's reform process.

"We are all keen on making progress on the Cyprus issue," said Asselborn.

Asselborn said the EU could not abandon Turkey because of its "strategic importance" to the 25-nation bloc. "But Turkey must also know that there is a lot of work lying ahead," he added.

The European Commission last week unveiled a downbeat assessment of Turkey's human rights and reform situation and gave Ankara a mid-December deadline to meet EU requirements.

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency