EU presidency hopes to open more talks with Turkey

EUROPEAN UNION president Spain hopes to open accession talks with Turkey in four new policy areas in the next six months, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said yesterday.

He said Spain, which holds the presidency until the end of June, was hoping for progress in the Cyprus issue, which was affecting Turkey’s accession.

“Both (sides) are aware of the risk of failure. We hope there will be success and that we can open some negotiating chapters,” he told reporters in Madrid.

“We have four in mind. We hope we can open them during our presidency.” He did not say which chapters he had in mind.

Turkey has opened 12 chapters out of 35 since starting talks in 2005.

Negotiations are still suspended in eight areas that were frozen by the EU in 2006 because of Turkey’s failure to comply with a 2005 agreement to open its ports and airports to Cyprus.

Ankara says it will open up to traffic from the Greek Cypriot part of Cyprus if the EU ends the so-called isolation of the Turkish Cypriots.

The drawn-out procedure that could eventually lead to Turkey, a mainly Muslim country of 70 million people, joining the EU faces opposition in some member states including France and Germany.

Germany said on Thursday it would not block Turkey’s bid to join the European Union but Ankara has yet to meet all the criteria for membership, German’s Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said.

Westerwelle said Turkey must step up progress towards solving the Cyprus issue and improve religious and press freedom.

“Strict compliance with the Copenhagen criteria remains a prerequisite for accession,” he said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has expressed opposition to Ankara’s bid, saying it should be offered a “privileged partnership” short of full membership. Turkey has rejected the idea.

The suspension of Turkey’s EU bid would require unanimity among the 27 member states. In any case, membership is expected to be achieved in decades rather than years.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.