Turkey says won’t attend any Cyprus-presided EU eventJune 8, 2012 - 11:22 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey will not attend any event presided over by Cyprus when the divided nation assumes the European Union presidency in July, the country's foreign minister said, according to Belfast Telegraph. Turkey does not recognize Cyprus as a sovereign nation and opposes it taking over the EU presidency until a solution to the dispute is found. The island was split into an internationally recognized Greek-speaking south and a breakaway Turkish-speaking north in 1974 when Turkey invaded after a coup by supporters of a union with Greece. Only the Greek section is part of the EU. "EU-Turkey relations and the political contacts we are currently establishing will continue as they are," Turkey's foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu told a joint news conference with EU foreign policy chief Baroness (Catherine) Ashton and enlargement commissioner Stefan Fule. "Yet no ministry or organisation of the Turkish Republic will take part in any activity that will be presided by Southern Cyprus." Eight policy issues have been frozen by the bloc over Turkey's refusal to allow ships and planes from Cyprus enter its ports and airspace. Turkey, however, is showing renewed interest in reviving its stalled bid to join the European Union, now that one of its key opponents - Nicolas Sarkozy - is no longer the president of France. Turkey began its EU accession negotiations in 2005 but made little progress in its candidacy, thanks to its dispute with Cyprus and opposition from Mr Sarkozy to Turkey's membership. Mr Sarkozy argued that the predominantly Muslim country is not part of Europe and wanted Turkey to accept some kind of a special partnership with the EU instead of full membership - an offer Turkey rejected. Now that Socialist Francois Hollande has replaced the conservative Mr Sarkozy, Turkey hopes France will be more sympathetic to the candidacy of a country that has one of the world's fastest growing economies and is becoming a regional diplomatic player. "Turkey will determinedly progress in its course towards the EU," Egemen Bagis, the Turkish minister in charge of EU affairs, said. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Putin congratulates Pashinyan’s birthday Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on his birthday on June 1. Opposition motorcade en route to Gyumri for large rally A motorcade of protesters headed by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan is heading to the city of Gyumri. Ruling MPs, Foreign Minister talk Armenia-Azerbaijan processes MOs from the ruling Civil Contract party met with the Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in the Armenian parliament. Russia: Armenia’s frozen membership weakens CSTO position in Caucasus A Russian envoy said any step that could alienate the CSTO member states from each other is “deeply wrong”. |