Greece Toughened Stand on Turkey

PanARMENIAN.Net - Greece said Thursday that Turkey must open all its ports and harbors to the Greek Cypriots as part of the agreement it made with the European Union to begin membership talks, and called on the EU to sanction Ankara for failing to meet its obligations. As reported by The New Anatolian, Greek Foreign Ministry spokesperson Giorgos Koumoutsakos said the customs agreement Turkey signed in July 2005, known as the Ankara protocol, requires Turkey to open its entire territory to trade from all member states, including Greek Cyprus, not just some ports. In an apparent hardening of Greece's stand on Turkish membership talks, Koumoutsakos said the EU must send Ankara a "strong message" by suspending talks on more than the eight of 35 policy areas the European Commission has recommended freezing. He would not provide a number, but it was the first time that Greece was asking for such a tough action. He added that in this "strong message, we don't think eight chapters are enough." "If you are sanctioning someone, then you have to see if they are working" to meet their obligations, he said.