ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul was quoted yesterday as saying that Ankara would hold talks in early March with the European Union on the thorny issue of signing a protocol extending its customs union to Cyprus.

Turkey does not recognize the Greek-Cypriot government, an EU member viewed by the bloc as the sole legal representative of Cyprus. But Ankara cannot begin its own talks in October to join the EU without first signing the customs union protocol.

“Negotiations on the customs union protocol begin at the start of March. Our friends will head for Brussels in a few days’ time,” the Radikal daily quoted Gul as saying.

EU diplomats say Turkey had been expected to sign the protocol by now and that Ankara was dragging its feet over a pledge it made at last December’s historic summit which set October 3 as the date for the launch of its accession talks.

The Referans daily said the talks on the protocol could last two months.

When Turkey finally signs the protocol extending its customs union with the EU to Cyprus and nine other new member states, it is also expected to issue a declaration making clear the move does not amount to political recognition of Cyprus.

Ankara says it cannot budge on the recognition issue without a comprehensive settlement reuniting Cyprus.

Gul said Turkey would soon name its chief negotiator for the EU entry talks, an appointment keenly awaited by financial markets.

The chief negotiator will have a key role in what is sure to be tough bargaining on the exact terms and conditions of Turkey’s eventual membership. The accession talks are widely expected to last up to a decade.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last Wednesday that the post would be filled by a politician, not a bureaucrat, but ruled out Gul himself taking the job.

Gul denied suggestions that the government lacked a sense of urgency in preparing for the EU talks.

“We are not lying down, we are working,” he told Radikal.