综合一区欧美国产,99国产麻豆免费精品,九九精品黄色录像,亚洲激情青青草,久久亚洲熟妇熟,中文字幕av在线播放,国产一区二区卡,九九久久国产精品,久久精品视频免费

   

EU freezes some Turkey entry talks

(AP)
Updated: 2006-12-12 10:53

BRUSSELS, Belgium - European Union foreign ministers decided Monday to freeze parts of entry talks with Turkey on Monday over Ankara's refusal to open its ports to trade with EU member Cyprus.

Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, 2nd left, talks with Austria's Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, left, while Filnland's Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, right, shows documents to EU Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn during a round table meeting of EU foreign ministers at the EU Council building in Brussels, Monday Dec. 11, 2006.
Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, 2nd left, talks with Austria's Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, left, while Filnland's Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, right, shows documents to EU Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn during a round table meeting of EU foreign ministers at the EU Council building in Brussels, Monday Dec. 11, 2006. [AP]

EU foreign ministers agreed to freeze eight of 35 "chapters" in entry negotiations relating to transport and trade, significantly slowing down Turkey's membership talks. EU leaders are expected to endorse the decision at a two-day summit beginning Thursday

The consensus came as a surprise after weeks of division within the EU over how to punish Turkey for its refusal to honor a 2005 pact to open its ports and airports to 10 new EU members - including Cyprus.

Cyprus has been divided since Turkey invaded in 1974 following a failed coup staged by supporters of union with Greece. Ankara is the only government to recognize the Turkish Cypriot state, but it does not recognize the Greek Cypriot government in the south that led the island into the EU in 2004.

Some of the EU ministers pushed for a hard line against Ankara; others urged leniency for fear of alienating the strategic nation which hopes to become the first mainly Muslim country to join the EU.

The foreign ministers stressed the importance of yearly reviews of Turkey's progress in the membership talks that began in October 2005 and are expected to last at least a decade, but set no new deadlines for re-evaluating the negotiations.

"Turkey has to understand it has no short cuts," said Cypriot Foreign Minister George Lillikas. "I hope that after this decision, it will begin to fulfill its obligations."

Ankara has maintained that the Cyprus issue is not Turkey's to resolve, and has insisted that the EU first end the economic isolation of Turkish Cypriots.

"This government is not going to have to choose between Cyprus on one side or the EU on the other," Turkish Justice Minister and government spokesman Cemil Cicek said in Ankara.

He said the Turkish government was trying both to "keep Turkey's future clear and to protect the interests and rights of our Cypriot kinsmen."


12  


Top World News  
Today's Top News  
Most Commented/Read Stories in 48 Hours
泽州县| 霍州市| 防城港市| 新源县| 平山县| 宁陕县| 浦县| 中阳县| 临洮县| 正定县| 余干县| 津市市| 文成县| 咸宁市| 泽库县| 循化| 文昌市| 扶风县| 象州县| 安阳市| 临城县| 博白县| 辽宁省| 蒙自县| 封开县| 西乌珠穆沁旗| 秀山| 济阳县| 恩施市| 朔州市| 蒙城县| 聊城市| 綦江县| 象州县| 社旗县| 晋江市| 土默特左旗| 沾化县| 安顺市| 卓尼县| 陕西省|