Turkey recognizing Cyprus should not be a pre-condition for the country to begin EU accession negotiations, Ritzau news bureau reported on Friday quoting Denmark's foreign minister.

Negotiations over Turkish accession to the EU should begin as planned on Oct. 3, said Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller on Thursday in advance of a meeting of union foreign ministers.

With the announcement, Moeller put himself at odds with several other union members, who demand that Turkish negotiations can only begin after it recognizes Cyprus.

"Denmark's opinion is that we support the decision from December 2004, where a proposal was made and conditions for negotiations were set. It is an open process, where there is no predetermined finish, though membership is, of course, the ultimate goal," said Moeller.

Negotiations, which could last a decade, could wind up with something other than full membership for Turkey. German Chancellor candidate Angela Merkel has proposed that Turkey be granted a so- called privileged partnership agreement.

Moeller, however, said that there was no need to come up with an alternative solution here and now.

"Saying that it is an open process, and that Turkey should become attached to Europe in some other way if it doesn't end with full membership, means that we need to come up with something else, but we don't need to define that right now," he said.

Moeller did say that conditions could be placed on Turkey in areas such as the free movement of labor, and that the way Turkey handles the Cyprus issue will be crucial.

"Of course Turkey needs to recognize Cyprus -- no later than the end of negotiations -- because you can't be a member of a club where you don't recognize one of the members. But, that's not a requirement for beginning negotiations," he said.

Source: Xinhua