British High Commissioner ( ambassador) to Cyprus Peter Millett on Wednesday described the EU response to Turkey's refusal to recognize its member Cyprus as " well-balanced".

"It certainly meets the main points which have been raised by the Cyprus delegation while also delivering on the EU strategic objective," said Millett.

He said Britain, the current rotating EU presidency, was pleased that the counterstatement got approved and the way forward on the negotiating framework is clear.

"We've listened to the views of all member states and tried to balance the views of all member states, while also ensuring that we could deliver on the EU strategic objective," Millett said.

The EU's 25 nations including Cyprus on Wednesday approved a common response to Turkey's diplomatic boycott of the Greek- Cypriot government which represents the whole Mediterranean island in the EU, paving the way for the start of accession talks with Ankara on Oct.3.

Cyprus president Tassos Papadopoulos said Tuesday that the EU's counter-declaration fulfilled its main concern that Ankara must fully implement the customs union protocol which would mean opening Turkish ports and airports to Cypriot vessels and aircraft.

Turkey met its last obligation before the entry talks could start by extending its customs union deal with the bloc to ten new member states including Cyprus.

But at the same time Turkey issued a declaration in July saying it would not recognize Cyprus until the division of the island was settled.

Cyprus has been divided into Greek-Cypriot south and Turkish- Cypriot north since Turkish troops captured the northern third of the island in 1974 to foil a coup seeking union with Greece.

Source: Xinhua