The government confirmed yesterday that a visit to Athens by Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, originally planned for next week, will not go ahead following schedule changes from both sides.

Gul had been due to visit Athens for talks with his Greek counterpart Dora Bakoyannis on December 7 and 8 but Athens asked for the trip to be postponed on Wednesday, before renewing the invitation on Thursday. By that time, however, Gul had already made other plans for those days, according to Ankara.

«We were willing to receive Gul on the original dates but his obligations did not allow him to be in Athens on those days,» alternate government spokesman Evangelos Antonaros said yesterday.

Bakoyannis had postponed her scheduled meeting with Gul on Wednesday as she had to attend an emergency summit at the United Nations Security Council headquarters in New York.

But the UN subsequently shifted its summit to December 12, allowing Athens to renew its invitation to Gul.

However Turkey's Foreign Ministry said Gul would not be able to come to Athens due to «other commitments,» deemed by Turkish diplomats to be «of greater significance.»

Many commentators in Athens interpreted Ankara's 24-hour delay in responding to Athens's renewed invitation as an expression of Ankara's disapproval of Greece's stance on Turkey's EU bid.

Bakoyannis's original call to reschedule Gul's visit came on the same day as the European Commission's recommendation for a partial freeze of Ankara's EU-oriented talks. The EC's move was prompted by Turkey's refusal to open its ports to Cyprus, already an EU member state.

Some diplomats in Athens doubted that a visit by Gul at this sensitive time would be wise. But Deputy Foreign Minister Yiannis Valinakis yesterday stressed that: «any time is a good time for dialogue and peaceful cooperation.»

Bakoyannis was yesterday in Nicosia for talks with Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos and Foreign Minister Giorgos Lillikas. Nicosia said on Wednesday that the EC's proposal for a partial freeze of talks with Turkey was «too soft.»