Brussels - Turkey should open its ports to Cypriot vessels in a bid to make talks over re-unifying the island easier, European Union foreign ministers said Monday.
EU member states have frozen Turkey's bid to join the bloc because of its refusal to allow Greek Cypriot ships and aircraft into its ports. But the EU is keen to improve relations with Ankara so that Turkey will help push for a peace settlement on Cyprus.
'On Turkey, the train must move on: we should avoid a crash. We of course hope that Turkey would move a little bit on the Ankara Protocol as well,' Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb said as he arrived in Brussels for talks with EU counterparts.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn backed that stance, saying, 'It's important to continue the (political) reforms and implement the Ankara Protocol.'
The Ankara Protocol, signed by Turkey and EU members in June 2005, extended Turkey's 46-year-old customs union with the EU to the bloc's newcomers in Central and Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean.
But Turkey refused to open its ports to Greek Cypriot vessels, arguing that the Greek side of the island had not lifted its embargo on vessels from the Turkish north.
EU foreign ministers in December 2006 therefore froze accession talks with Turkey on all trade-related issues.
However, the bloc is now eager to enlist Ankara's help in pushing for a rapid solution to the Cyprus conflict, fearing that otherwise spring elections in the north of the island could lead to an anti-European backlash.
In October the EU's executive, the European Commission, released a report on Turkey's accession progress which was more positive than expected, praising the country for its reform process.
However, it also said that it was 'urgent' for Turkey to allow Cypriot vessels onto its territory.
Source:monstersandcritics.com
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