Greek Foreign Minister Petros Molyviatis said on Friday a new proposal by the British EU presidency calling on EU hopeful Turkey to normalize relations with Cyprus was an improvement over the first draft but still unsatisfactory, Athens News Agency reported.

"The text needs certain changes in order to reflect the general spirit and common denominator of positions presented by Greece, Cyprus and other member states," said the minister attending an informal EU foreign ministers' council meeting in Wales, said the report.

The diplomatic "thorn" related to Ankara's refusal to recognize the island republic -- one of 25 nations comprising the EU Turkey hopes to join -- has overshadowed its EU prospects, although Molyviatis struck a more optimistic note regarding the scheduled beginning of accession negotiations.

"It became clear (in the sessions) that there's a consistent view holding that the Turkey-EU accession negotiations process must begin," said the minister.

"As long as there is a certainty that Turkey will fulfill its commitment regarding the signing of the (customs union) protocol and its subsequent implementation for all countries, without exceptions," he added.

Turkey, at the end of July, agreed to extend an existing customs agreement with the European Union to include the 10 latest EU member states including Cyprus.

The custom agreement is a key condition for the opening of Ankara's EU accession talks set for October.

However, Turkey attached a declaration to the document, stating that its signature did not constitute recognition of Cyprus, whose internationally-recognized Greek Cypriot government Ankara refuses to endorse.

Turkey is the only country to recognize the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, proclaimed in 1983, nine years after Turkish troops seized the island's northern third in response to an Athens-engineered coup in Nicosia aimed at uniting Cyprus with Greece.

Source: Xinhua