Braced for Turkey talks

Greece and Cyprus firm on suspension of accession negotiation chapters

The resolve of Greece and Cyprus on Turkey's accession talks with the European Union will be tested this week, beginning with a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels today as Athens and Nicosia insist they will not accept compromises on Ankara's membership commitments.

The issue of whether to partially suspend Turkey's EU negotiations will top the agenda at the meeting between the foreign ministers of the 25 member states, ahead of an EU leaders' summit which begins on Thursday.

Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis repeated over the weekend that Greece wants the EU to be tough with Turkey and set Ankara a timetable to meet certain commitments, followed by an evaluation by other EU members.

Bakoyannis demanded unity from the member states on how to progress with Turkey's accession process.

Turkey's offer last week to open one of its ports and an airport in return for a guaranteed solution to the Cyprus problem and trade benefits for Turkish Cypriots was rejected completely by Athens and Nicosia and met with little support within the EU.

Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos said on Saturday that the Turkish plan was «an attempt to divert attention» and insisted that the reunification of Cyprus could not be linked to Turkey's EU negotiations.

However, countries like Britain and Italy are using Turkey's last-minute offer to support their arguments that entry talks with Ankara should continue uninterrupted. Greece and Cyprus are among several member states that believe talks in a number of policy areas should be suspended.

The European Commission has suggested eight of the 35 chapters should be frozen but Athens and Nicosia may push for more.

«Nobody can predict the outcome of a negotiation,» said Foreign Ministry spokesman Giorgos Koumoutsakos. «Especially as the last few days have shown, the negotiating environment can even be affected by publicity stunts.»