No reply by 25 to Turkey on Cyprus

Envoys from the European Union’s member states have failed again to agree on how to respond to Turkey’s refusal to recognise Cyprus. A diplomat said the lack of agreement was unlikely to jeopardise the start of EU membership talks with Turkey on October the third, and that the envoys would probably continue their talks on Monday.

Turkey refuses to recognise Cyprus’s Greek Cypriot government, which represents the whole of the island in the 25-nation EU. Ankara alone supports a breakaway Turkish Cypriot enclave in the north of the Mediterranean island. Ankara’s recognition of the Cypriot government was not a precondition for Turkey to start accession talks, but Cyprus wants the EU declaration to include deadlines for recognition and is pushing for its vessels to be allowed into Turkish ports. Turkey says it will only recognise Cyprus after a broad international agreement, possibly sponsored by the United Nations, to end the division of the island.

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