Finnish diplomat visits Cyprus in view of EU report on Turkey

A senior Finnish diplomat held meetings in Cyprus on Tuesday with parties concerned to prevent a crisis between the European Union (EU) and Turkey, the semi- official Cyprus News Agency reported.

Director General of the Finnish Foreign Ministry's Department for Europe, Kare Halonen, met separately with Director of the Cypriot President's Diplomatic Office, Tasos Tzionis, and Rasit Pertev, counselor of the Turkish Cypriot leader, discussing the European Commission's progress report on Turkey's accession negotiations.

The meeting with Tzionis took place in the Finnish ambassador's residence while the meeting with Pertev in his office in the Turkish occupied areas of Cyprus, a spokeswoman for the Finnish Embassy in Nicosia was quoted as saying.

The spokeswoman reassured that Finland, which holds the current rotating EU presidency, was working very hard to reach a solution before Nov. 8, when the progress report on Turkey's EU accession negotiations is set to be published.

"We will continue our consultations during the next days," the spokeswoman said, adding "our aim is to find a solution before Nov. 8."

Regarding a possible high-level meeting in Helsinki, the spokeswoman said that for now this was mainly an idea, adding that all depend on results of the consultations that take place this period.

"There is no confirmation yet that such a meeting will take place," she said.

Halonen arrived earlier in the day and left for Germany in the afternoon.

Finland is working on a draft proposal, providing for opening of Turkish occupied port of Famagusta under the EU administration for 24 months in combination with the opening of Turkish ports to ships carrying the Cypriot flag and the transfer of Varosha to the UN.

Cyprus, which joined the EU in May 2004, has been divided since 1974 when Turkey militarily intervened and occupied the north of Cyprus following a coup by a group of Greek officers.

Turkey, a country aspiring to become an EU member state, does not recognize the Republic of Cyprus and has failed so far to implement the EU-Turkey Customs Union Protocol, which provides for opening of its ports and airports to Cyprus.

Source: Xinhua