Cyprus should not be used as excuse to slow down Turkey's EU membership, Gul says

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey's president Abdullah Gul called on European nations Wednesday not to use the dispute over Cyprus as an excuse to slow down Turkey's European Union membership.



Abdullah Gul was speaking in the parliament of the self-declared Turkish Cypriot state during his first visit outside Turkey since his election to presidency last month. Turkish presidents traditionally make their first trip abroad to the Mediterranean island's north.



"It is not right to link the Cyprus problem with Turkey's EU membership. This is a wrong assessment," Gul said. "The Cyprus issue should not be used to slow down or prevent Turkey's EU membership process."



Turkey began membership negotiations in October 2005. But progress came to a virtual standstill late last year when EU leaders decided to partially suspend negotiations to protest Ankara's refusal to open its ports to trade with Cyprus — an EU member.



Turkish officials have reiterated they will not implement a 2005 agreement to open Turkish ports and airports to Cyprus until the EU lives up to its commitment to lift the trade embargo on the Turkish Cypriot community. Gul called for the international embargo against northern Cyprus to be lifted. "The international community should understand that the discrimination and restrictions imposed on Turkish Cypriot people must now end," he said, The Associated Press reports



Turkey does not recognize the government of Cyprus, which has led to a standoff between Brussels and Ankara over the membership bid. Cyprus has been divided into a Greek Cypriot south — represented by the internationally recognized government — and a Turkish Cypriot north since 1974, when Turkey invaded after a failed Athens-backed coup by supporters of union with Greece.



In 2004, Greek Cypriot voters overwhelmingly rejected a UN reunification plan that the Turkish Cypriots accepted in a separate referendum. The United Nations has repeatedly pressed the two sides to reopen negotiations.