French Interior Minister Nicholas Sarkozy on Friday called for the suspension of EU membership talks with Turkey unless Ankara changes its stance on Cyprus. Sarkozy, a front-runner ahead of next year’s French presidential election, specifically called for a break in accession talks while Turkey persists with its embargo against Cypriot ships using its ports.
Turkey signed in July 2005 a protocol extending its customs accord with the EU to the 10 new states that joined in 2004, including the island of Cyprus, which Ankara refuses to recognize. But its Parliament has yet to ratify the document and Ankara continues to block the access of Cypriot ships. “I call for the suspension of opening new adhesion chapters with Turkey while it has not ratified and clearly has not implemented the Ankara protocol (customs agreement),” he said in a speech. “The geographical and political map of the EU” should be fixed, with the bloc open to states which are “clearly part of the continent of Europe” he said, citing Switzerland, Norway and the Balkan states, reported Agenece France Presse.
