Britain urged Turkey on Monday to honour a pledge to the European Union to open its ports and airports to neighbouring Cyprus, saying it would be an important step in Ankara’s talks to join the bloc.
Turkey has no diplomatic relations with Cyprus, an EU member since 2004, but is under pressure to make good a promise to open its ports to its southern neighbour under a deal which enabled it to start accession talks in 2005.
“I urge the Turkish government to honour the commitments that it has already made. We would like to see the ports opened, we’d like to see them making that commitment again and seeing action rather than just words,” said British Minister for Europe Chris Bryant.
Turkish compliance with its commitments will be discussed by EU heads of state at a summit in mid-December.
Cyprus was divided in a Turkish invasion in 1974 triggered by a brief Greek-inspired coup. The conflict has slowed Turkey’s EU entry talks at the urging of Greek Cypriots, who represent the island in the 27-member bloc.
“We don’t want (Turkey’s accession process) to stop, we don’t want to slam the door shut. We think it is really important that the process towards EU accession of Turkey is maintained as a strong possibility,” Bryant told reporters in Nicosia, Cyprus’s ethnically partitioned capital.
