Turkey decides to recognise Cyprus for EU business

TURKEY has taken a decision in principle to recognise the Republic of Cyprus within the framework of the island’s EU membership, CNN Turk reported last night.

According to the report, Ankara has decided to grant a “functional recognition” to Cyprus bearing in mind its own EU aspirations following the advice of experts on international law.

Turkey is seeking a date for EU accession talks in December and has already said it will probably sign a customs union agreement with Cyprus before that date.

The recognition it plans for Cyprus does not include the opening of diplomatic relations, CNN Turk said and will only concern Cyprus’ dealings with the EU.

Commenting on the move on his return to the island from Germany last night, House President Demetris Christofias said it was inevitable that Turkey would have to recognise the Republic of Cyprus.

“It’s their legal obligation to do so,” Foreign Minster George Iacovou told a private television station.

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.