Turkey offers Cyprus proposal, reports suggest

Turkey has offered to open a port and an airport to EU member Cyprus in return for trade to the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state in a bid to avert a partial freeze of EU entry talks, reports said today.

Ankara said it would open one of its ports and an airport to Greek Cypriots - if the Turkish Cypriot airport of Ercan, near the divided capital of Nicosia, and the port of Famagusta in the north of the island, are opened to international traffic, the state-owned Anatolia news agency said.

The Turkish proposal foresees the mutual opening of the sea and airports within one year and also foresees finalizing the reunification and a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem by the end of 2007, private NTV television reported from Brussels.

Turkey's offer was not written but was relayed verbally yesterday to Finland, the country holding the rotating EU presidency, private NTV television reported. The proposal also aimed for a resolution to the division of Cyprus within a year, NTV said.

A Finnish EU presidency official confirmed today that EU officials had received the offer. Senior EU diplomats were discussing Ankara's proposal today in Brussels, the official said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations.

However, Turkey's Foreign Ministry refused to comment, saying negotiations were still under way and "information on the context of the talks cannot be released in order not to harm the negotiations."

Turkey had signed a customs pact agreeing to open its ports and airports to the 10 countries that joined in the EU in 2004 - including Cyprus, which has been divided since Turkey invaded in 1974 following a failed coup staged by supporters of union with Greece.

Ankara, the only government to recognise the Turkish Cypriot state, does not recognize the Greek Cypriot administration.

The European Commission has recommended that the EU partially suspend entry negotiations with Turkey over Ankara's refusal to open its ports to Greek Cypriot trade.

EU leaders are to discuss the recommendation at a summit next week in Brussels.

"This is a goodwill gesture aimed at strengthening Turkey's hand and the hand of those EU members who are against a partial suspension of talks," Cengiz Aktar, a columnist and an EU analyst, told NTV.