Turkish Cypriots slam France over military drills

(ANKARA) - A Turkish Cypriot official slammed France on Wednesday over its decision to take part in military exercises with Greek Cypriots on divided Cyprus, Turkey's Anatolia news agency reported.

Turgay Avci, foreign minister of the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, denounced France's participation in the June 2-6 drills as a partial stance in favour of the Greek Cypriots at a time when efforts are under way to revive talks to reunify the island.

"France's participation in the exercises cannot be seen as a sign of goodwill at a time when France is preparing to take over the EU presidency and when a negotiation process is under way in Cyprus," he told Anatolia in an interview, calling on Paris to "carefully review" its decision.

France, a vocal opponent of Turkey's bid to join the European Union, takes over the bloc's rotating presidency in July.

The 34-year division of Cyprus between its Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities remains a major stumbling block for Turkey's accession bid.

The leaders of the rival Cypriot communities agreed last week to hold a new round of talks in June at a meeting aimed at boosting the momentum for a fresh UN-brokered push for peace.

The internationally recognised government of Cyprus announced last week it would be holding search and rescue and crisis management exercises involving the sea and air forces of Cyprus, Greece and France.

The drills will be conducted in the island's Greek Cypriot south and international waters in the Mediterranean.

Peace talks have been stalled since April 2004 when a UN-drafted reunification paln was overwhelmingly rejected by Greek Cypriots even though it was backed by Turkish Cypriots.

A divided Cyprus joined the EU in May of that year, leaving the breakaway entity in the Turkish Cypriot north, which is recognised only by Ankara, further isolated.

Cyprus has been divided along ethnic lines since 1974 when Turkish troops occupied the north in response to an Athens-engineered Greek Cypriot coup in Nicosia aimed at uniting the island with Greece.