Turkey to open port to Cyprus

Turkey is planning to open a port and an airport to traffic from Cyprus, in an effort to break the deadlock in negotiations on its entry to the European Union (EU), according to Finnish media reports on Thursday.

Spokesman for Finland's EU presidency Mikko Norros confirmed that Turkey had sent a message to the EU stating that a port and an airport would be opened.

Turkey's message was received on Wednesday, just ahead of discussions by EU ambassadors about the position on Turkey on Thursday.

The Finnish EU presidency had no information on whether the Turkish offer was unilateral, or conditional on some reciprocal action from Cyprus.

Finnish television, citing EU diplomats, said that in return for Turkey's move, the EU would reconsider its proposal to slow down negotiations on Turkey's membership.

The European Commission has recommended suspending eight out of the 35 policy areas or "chapters" relating to Turkey's membership negotiations. The commission has also suggested not to conclude talks on any area until Turkey fulfils its treaty obligation to open its ports and airports to traffic from EU member Cyprus.

Source: Xinhua