Turkije ondertekent douaneverdrag maar erkent Cyprus niet (en)

Turkey has agreed to extend a customs agreement to all 25 member states of the EU but stressed this does not mean official recognition of Cyprus.

Late on Friday evening (29 July), after last minute diplomacy by the UK EU presidency, Ankara signed the 1963 customs agreement seen as one of the last official moves needed ahead of 3 October when EU membership negotiations are supposed to begin.

However, in a separate statement it underlined that this did not change its position on Cyprus. "We have also attached an additional note claiming Turkey's guarantor rights in Northern Cyprus. These have now become official EU documents", said Turkish foreign minister Abdullah Gul, according to daily newspaper Hurriyet.

The declaration said: "The signing, ratification and implementation of this protocol in no way means recognition of the Republic of Cyprus, which the protocol refers to".

"Turkey will continue to regard the Greek Cypriot authorities as exercising authority, control and jurisdiction only in the territory south of the buffer zone (in Cyprus)... and as not representing the Turkish Cypriot people and will treat the acts performed by them accordingly", the declaration said.

Turkey does not recognise that the Greek Cypriot government represents the whole of the island, maintaining its support for the Turkish Cypriot government of the north.

Mr Gul stressed that Turkey will not change its position on this until there is a solution to the divided island.

"The Greek and Cypriot-Greek parties assert that our adding a declaration is a 'political mishap' - their attitude is more of a political mishap, having not accepted an internationally-backed agreement and turning down any practical solution", said the foreign minister.

He was referring to a UN plan to unite the island, which was accepted by Turkish Cypriots but rejected by Greek Cypriots in a referendum last year.

Cypriot criticism

The Cypriot government in Nicosia reacted with criticism to Ankara's position. According to Cypriot TV, Marios Karoylan, the president's spokesman, called it a "sad development and a paradox" that a would-be member of the EU says that it does not recognise one of the member states.

President Tassos Papadopoulos said that Cyprus would veto the opening of Ankara's membership talks if Turkey has not recognised his republic as a full and equal member of the EU.

There is also division within Turkey itself about extending the protocol.

Foreign Affairs Commission head Mehmet Dulger said that the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) was very sensitive to the matter, adding that the government would not forsake Cyprus, notes Hurriyet.

The Financial Times quotes the chairman of the Ankara chamber of commerce as saying that Turkey had made "a historic mistake" in signing the agreement.

The Turkish parliament will hold an extraordinary session over the summer to vote on the issue.