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Turkey says won't recognize Cyprus as EU president
Turkey will not attend any event Cyprus presides over when the divided nation assumes the European Union presidency in July, Turkey's foreign minister said Thursday, although it will continue to collaborate with the EU.Turkey does not recognize Cyprus as a sovereign nation and opposed 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," Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told a joint news conference with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule. "Yet no ministry or organization of the Turkish Republic will take part in any activity that will be presided by Southern Cyprus." Posted by: tipper 2012-06-07 |
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