Turkey warns EU over Cyprus sanctions

Turkey have warned the European Union on Thursday that their membership talks could suffer irreparable damage if EU leaders imposed new sanctions next week in retaliation for Ankara’s refusal to open its ports and airports to Greek Cypriot traffic.

“There are already too many sanctions on Turkey because of Cyprus,” said Egemen Bagis, Turkey’s chief EU negotiator. “Any additional sanctions will kill the motivation of my leaders towards the EU.”

The Greek Cypriot-controlled government of Cyprus is pressing its 26 fellow EU member-states to tighten measures against Turkey for failing to abide by the so-called Ankara protocol – a 2004 EU-Turkish agreement that Turkey would open direct transport links with the Greek Cypriots in return for launching EU membership talks.

EU leaders will meet at a summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday next week to decide their course of action. The bloc is divided among countries that support Turkey’s EU aspirations, such as Sweden and the UK, and others such as Austria and France that do not want Turkey to become a member.

Many EU governments take the view that it would be inadvisable to impose new sanctions on Turkey at a time when talks on a comprehensive Cyprus settlement between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders, which started in September 2008, are entering their most delicate phase.

Mr Bagis, speaking at a meeting of the European Policy Centre, a Brussels-based think-think, supported that position, saying: “Any attempt to derail these efforts would not serve anyone’s purpose.”