Cyprus may block EU accession talks

PanARMENIAN.Net - Cypriot President Demetris Christofias said last week that Turkey will not be accessed to the European Union as long as it continues keeping its troops in northern Cyprus.



"Turkey can't become a member of the union unless it stops the occupation of Cyprus," he told foreign media reporters in Nicosia.



Earlier last month Foreign Minister Markos Kyprianou said Cyprus might block more chapters in Turkey's accession negotiations with the EU in light of an oil exploration dispute between the two countries.



"As long as there are threats regarding the exercise of our sovereign right to exploit the natural resources within our exclusive economic zone [in the Mediterranean Sea], it is very difficult for us to start discussions on the relevant chapter of the negotiations," Kyprianou said, Gibrahayer e-magazine reports.