PanARMENIAN.Net
Ankara Accuses EU in Blackmail
23.11.2006 16:44 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ As Turkey-EU relations enter a critical period, the
Turkish government replied harshly to the EU term president Finland’s
deadline of Dec.6 for the Cyprus issue, reports the Zaman. Assessing
Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen’s statement that the deadline
for the Cyprus issue was the first week of December, Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, `We will not take any steps if
unacceptable proposals are put before us.’
Erdogan noted that Minister Gul will head to Helsinki on Saturday
after wrapping up talks with technocrats and administrators. Gul said:
`If we can find a way to settle the issue, we will welcome it, but
Turkey has done its duty. Turkey’s expectation when signing the
protocol was that the EU would start free trade with Turkish
Cypriots.’ `This cannot be done through blackmailing and deadlines,’
the foreign minister said.