2ND EU gives Turkey mid-December deadline on Cyprus links By Shada Islam

dpa German Press Agency
Published: Wednesday November 8, 2006

By Shada Islam, Brussels- The European Union Wednesday gave Turkey a mid- December deadline to open its ports to Greek Cypriot vessels, saying this was a key condition for keeping Ankara's EU entry bid on track. Turkey's failure to fulfil its obligations towards Cyprus would "affect the overall progress" in Ankara's 12-month-old EU membership negotiations, warned European Comission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

EU enlargement chief Olli Rehn cautioned Turkey to keep its commitment to allow ships from the Republic of Cyprus to enter harbours or face "relevant recommendations" from the commission on the future of Turkey's troubled negotiations.

Rehn said the EU executive would issue these recommendations ahead of a summit of the bloc's leaders to be held in Brussels on December 14-15.

Under EU rules, the commission could either call for an overall freeze in Turkey's accession talks or only a partial suspension of discussions on trade and transport links.

A final decision would, however, have to be taken by EU leaders.

Rehn insisted that EU states and Turkey must "focus all energy and efforts" to support Finnish efforts to end the stalemate over Cyprus, saying this was "likely to be the last opportunity to make real serious progress for some years to come on the issue."

Finland has refused to give details of its plan but diplomats say the compromise involves the opening up of the Turkish Cypriot port of Famagusta to trade with the EU in exchange for a decision by Ankara to allow Cypriot ships into its harbours. Finland is current president of the 25-nation EU.

"We still have time," said Rehn, adding that he was "seeking solutions" and remained focused on executing "Plan A" for continuing negotiations with Turkey.

Ankara does not have formal links with the Republic of Cyprus which joined the EU as part of the bloc's 2004 enlargement.

Turkish leaders have said they will comply with EU demands on Cyprus once the bloc ends it current economic boycott of the Turkish Cypriot part of the divided island.

But a report by Rehn warned that Ankara's stance was in defiance of its legal obligation not to discriminate among EU states and could not be linked to the EU's stance towards the Turkish Cypriot community.

The commission also noted that Turkey had made no progress on "any aspects of normalizing bilateral relations with the Republic of Cyprus."

However, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul rejected EU criticism, saying it was not just Turkey's responsibility to act.

"On Cyprus everyone must make a step," Gul said on an official visit in Rome, the Turkish NTV television station reported.

Gul said Turkey was committed to complying with all of the criteria required for membership and that the government had given a promise to deliver further democratic reforms.

The commission, however, made clear that Ankara had a long way to go before complying with EU standards.

In addition to complaints about links with Cyprus, the EU executive pointed to the continuing political influence exercised by the Turkish armed forces.

It said senior military officials continued to express their opinion on domestic and foreign policy issues, including Cyprus and secularism as well as the Kurdish issue. No progress had been made in strengthening parliamentary oversight of the military budget and expenditures.

The commission called for an amendment of Article 301 of the penal code which makes it a crime to "insult Turkishness." The clause was a "cause for serious concern and may contribute to create a climate of self-censorship in the country," the commission said.

Rehn said he welcomed recent pronouncements by Turkish officials in favour of changing the infamous article but said he was waiting for words to be translated into deeds.

The commission noted that while overall open debate had increased in recent years in Turkish society, "freedom of expression in line with European standards is not yet guaranteed by the present legal framework."

The independence of the judiciary needed to be "further established," the report said, adding that there were also still cases of torture and ill treatment of people in particular outside detention centres.

It warned of non-respect for the rights of women and minorities, including the Kurdish population.

Despite the tough EU stance, many European policymakers are worried that any move to freeze talks will further slow down reform in Turkey, hurt the country's economy and aggravate already-strained relations between Europe and many Muslim countries.

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency