Europese ministers buitenlandse zaken proberen crisis met Turkije af te wenden (en)

EU foreign ministers will on Monday try to defuse a major row over Turkey, with Turkish foreign minister Abdullah Gul threatening to stay away from a Luxembourg meeting if Cyprus keeps blocking its EU entry talks.

Nicosia is still refusing to agree to the opening of Turkey's first concrete legislative chapter in its accession talks with the EU, planned for a foreign ministers' meeting in Luxembourg today (12 June).

The opening of the 'science and research' chapter would be conducted at the Luxembourg meeting in the presence of Mr Gul, but the Turkish minister has made clear he will not come unless the Cypriots back down.

"Undoubtedly, I will not go. Everybody knows that. I will not go and wait in the airport," he said on Sunday according to CNN Turk television.

Before giving the green light to the start of this legislative chapter, Cyprus wants to see progress on Turkey ending its continued non-recognition of Cyprus and its blockade of Cypriot shipping and air traffic.

Risk of major setback

The EU last year issued a statement which requires Turkey to recognise EU member state Cyprus, as well as open its ports and airports to Cypriot vessels and planes.

But Ankara is making any concessions dependent on moves by the EU to end the economic isolation of the Turkish-populated north of Cyprus.

Austrian foreign minister Ursula Plassnik held talks with her Cypriot counterpart Giorgos Iakovou on Sunday evening, with Greece and the European Commission also attempting to broker an arrangement over the weekend.

But as these attempts did not secure a breakthrough, foreign ministers will find the thorny issue as the first point on their agenda today.

A failure to reach a compromise would mean a major setback in Turkey's EU accession process, risking a period of tense relations between Ankara and Brussels.

Further stumbling blocks

The science and research chapter is among the easiest of 35 negotiating chapters that Turkey has to open and close.

As there is no real EU legislation on science and research, the chapter can be both opened and closed on Monday.

The chapter could also be closed "provisionally" which means Nicosia could in theory always re-open it - a solution proposed by the Austrian EU presidency which has so far failed to convince the Cypriots.

The starting and finishing of each of the 35 legislative chapters requires the unanimous consent of EU member states.

The second chapter in line, on education and culture, promises to be much more sensitive than the one on science and research.

Member states wary of Turkish accession, such as France and the Netherlands, have signalled they will raise political issues related to education, such as equal access to schools for girls and boys.

Minority rights and the portrayal of minorities in school books could also figure in the education and culture talks, diplomats said.