Cyprus doubts Turkey will heed EU warning over ports

Cyprus seriously doubts that Turkey will meet a mid-December EU deadline to honour trade obligations to the divided island or suffer the consequences, its foreign minister said Thursday.

"There is nothing significant that could arise between now and December that would lead to a change in Turkey's stance," George Lillikas told reporters.

The minister said he did not share optimism that a deal could be reached by next month.

"We know about Turkey's behaviour better than the rest of our EU partners; we've been dealing with Turkey for 32 years now," Lillikas said, a reference to the 1974 invasion of Cyprus following an Athen-inspired coup to join the island with Greece.

"We understand what Turkish intransigence means just like we understand how Turkey honours its signature and its commitments."

Cyprus has remained divided since 1974, when Turkey occupied its northern third.

Ankara is under pressure to open its ports to the internationally recognized Greek Cypriot government of Cyprus under a customs union pact with the bloc.

Extending that trade agreement to the 10 new members including Cyprus was a prerequisite for Ankara starting accession talks last year.

Turkey has rejected a warning from Brussels that its failure to extend the trade agreement to Cyprus might derail its accession prospects.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed that Turkish ports would remain off limits to Cyprus-registered vessels and aircraft if the European Union fails to deliver on promises to ease trade and travel restrictions on Turkish Cypriots.

He acknowledged there could be a "period of stagnation" in ties with the EU, but ruled out the possibility of accession talks collapsing a little more than a year after they began in October 2005.

This was after the European Commission issued a critical report Wednesday on Turkey's progress towards membership, urging Ankara to fulfill obligations on Cyprus or face the consequences at a summit of EU leaders on December 14-15.

Erdogan slammed the EU for failing to ease the economic isolation of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), recognized only by Ankara, under promises made in April 2004 when the Turkish Cypriots voted in favour of a UN plan to reunite the country.

The plan was rejected by the Greek Cypriots, who joined the EU in May that year, with the Turkish Cypriots left out in the cold.

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul pledged support for efforts by Finland, the current holder of the EU presidency, to resolve the stalemate before next month's EU summit.

Finland's efforts suffered a blow last week when planned talks were scrapped after the parties failed to agree on their format.