Turkey blames Cyprus for failure of EU initiative

Turkey on Thursday blamed Cyprus for the cancellation of last-minute talks planned by EU president Finland to make headway in a trade row between Ankara and Brussels over the divided island.

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said the meetings fell through after Finland failed to secure the attendance of all parties.

A Turkish diplomat told AFP that the Cypriot government pulled out because it was unhappy with the format of the talks.

"Finland strove with goodwill, but unfortunately were unable to create an environment in which to take a positive step because, unfortunately, the sides they invited did not want to participate in such a meeting," Gul told reporters here on his return from a visit to Moscow.

The talks, planned for November 5-6 in Helsinki, were expected to bring together Gul, Cypriot Foreign Minister George Lillikas and Turgay Avci, the foreign minister of the island's breakaway Turkish statelet.

A European source in Brussels said the meetings, ahead of a critical European Commission report on Ankara's progress towards EU membership, became "impossible" because of Turkish concerns over the multilateral format of the planned talks.

But a Turkish diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the island's internationally-recognised Greek Cypriot administration pulled out after Ankara rejected its demand to negotiate with Turkey instead of the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

"Turkey has been very supportive of the Finnish efforts from the very start, but unfortunately the Greek Cypriots abused and blocked the process," he told AFP.

Turkey, which invaded the northern third of Cyprus in 1974, does not recognise the Greek Cypriot government and avoids any move that might be interpreted as recognition.

Turkey is the only state to acknowledge the TRNC, declared in 1983 in the Turkish-occupied area. Conversely, the Greek Cypriots are extremely sensitive about anything that might be construed as recognition of the TRNC.

The diplomat said Turkey had suggested the rival Cypriot sides negotiate in Helsinki and that Turkey and Greece, as the island's guarantor states, step in if they made progress.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he conveyed the suggestion to Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen in a telephone conversation Wednesday.

"I told him it was not possible for our foreign minister to attend a meeting which did not include the Greek foreign minister," Erdogan said.

Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat also accused the Cypriot government.

"We heard that the Greek Cypriot side is not willing to meet us," Talat told reporters in Istanbul shortly before the cancellation of the Helsinki meetings was announced.

"They expect to meet with Turkey to give the impression that the Cyprus prbolem is one of occupation," he said hours before flying to Brussels for talks with Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja.

The Helsinki meetings were expected to focus on a Finnish plan to resolve a row between Turkey and the European Union over granting trade privileges to Cyprus

Turkey is required to open its ports and airports to Cypriot vessels under a 2005 protocol extending its customs union agreement to 10 new EU countries, including Cyprus.

Ankara refuses to do so until the EU keeps its promises to ease the economic isolation of the Turkish Cypriots, who approved a 2004 UN reunification plan for the island that was rejected by Greek Cypriots.

Turkey had criticised the Finnish plan for containing "unablanced elements," but said it was ready to negotiate.

EU officials have warned Turkey that failure to honour its obligations under the customs union agreement could result in suspension of its membership talks with the bloc, which began last year.