Turkey-EU talks 'on schedule'

Turkey said yesterday it was confident of starting membership talks with the European Union on schedule next month despite a wrangle over its refusal to recognise EU member Cyprus.

"I can't see any problem that will prevent the start of talks on October 3," Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told Turkish journalists after meeting his EU counterparts. He also held talks with Foreign Secretary Jack Straw of Britain, which holds the EU's rotating presidency.

Mr Gul played down a row over Turkey's refusal to recognise the Greek Cypriot government in Nicosia or allow Cypriot ships and planes to enter Turkish ports and airports, saying there were legal forums to take up disputes about their customs union.

Turkish leaders had earlier said they would make no more concessions to the EU and would walk away if the 25-nation bloc offered anything short of full membership.

Several EU states apart from Cyprus are wary about the prospect of heavily populated, relatively poor and mainly Muslim Turkey joining the bloc, even though accession is not expected for at least a decade. Some propose an alternative economic partnership with Ankara.

Concern about Turkish membership was blamed in part for French and Dutch voters' rejection of the European Constitution in referendums earlier this year.

Turkey's July declaration refusing to recognise Cyprus had raised doubts about the start date for talks, with France arguing it was inconceivable for Ankara to negotiate accession when it did not recognise one of the EU's member states.

But Cyprus's Foreign Minister said yesterday he was hopeful entry talks would go ahead and other ministers, meeting at a golf resort in Wales, said the message to Ankara would be that October 3 will be respected.

"Let me say that I am optimistic that they will start," said Cypriot Foreign Minister George Iacovou.

The Cyprus question is a major complication for Turkey's EU membership bid. Ankara backs breakaway Turkish Cypriots in northern Cyprus and says it will not recognise the internationally accepted Greek Cypriot government before a comprehensive peace settlement on the Mediterranean island.

Mr Gul sparked new tension on Thursday by saying Ankara would not open its ports and airports to ships and planes from Cyprus, in apparent breach of the EU customs union it agreed in July to extend to new member states, including Cyprus.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said full implementation of the customs pact was "clearly a red line for the EU and is not a matter of negotiation".

But Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey had no more concessions to make.

"Now Turkey has nothing more to give (the EU). We have done everything related to the Copenhagen political criteria," he told a gathering in the Italian city of Naples yesterday.

The criteria cover basic political freedoms. Every EU candidate country must meet them before starting entry talks.

The EU is expected to issue a counter-declaration next week to Turkey's July 29 statement on Cyprus, making clear it must implement the customs union in full and without discrimination, and underlining the importance of normalising relations with all EU members "as soon as can be achieved".

Mr Gul and Mr Straw discussed the wording of that declaration and of the EU negotiating mandate, a British spokesman said. The Turkish minister told reporters it would be a unilateral declaration binding only on the EU.

Diplomats said France and Cyprus sought an EU commitment to suspend negotiations if Turkey failed to open its ports and airports to shipping and planes from Cyprus by next year, but other EU countries wanted to avoid any automatic suspension.

Mr Straw, chairing the foreign ministers' meeting, said he was "reasonably hopeful" for the October 3 deadline. The Cyprus issue could be resolved during accession talks, he said.