Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said tonight Turkey would not open its ports to Cypriot vessels unless the EU moved to end isolation of the Ankara-backed Northern Cyprus enclave.
"Unless isolation of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is lifted, we will never give up our determination on the issue of ports and airports," Erdogan told reporters.
Earlier today the European Commission gave Turkey a mid-December deadline to open its ports to Cyprus or face consequences for its accession bid.
"Failure to implement its obligations in full will affect the overall progress in the negotiations," the EU executive said in a critical report on Turkey's progress.
Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the EU had decided "to give a chance for the diplomatic efforts to find a solution" on the Cyprus trade issue. "The Commission will make relevant recommendations ahead of the December European Council if Turkey has not fulfilled its obligations," the report said.
The 25-member EU executive criticised a slowdown in reforms since Ankara began talks last year but stopped short of recommending consequences for its accession process, leaving the decision to EU leaders when they meet on December 14-15th. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan ruled out a collapse of the EU talks, expected to last at least a decade, but acknowledged some negotiating 'chapters' might by held back.
"There is no chance of a rupture or anything like that, in my view. A suspension, a breakdown of consultations, the train halting at the station, these are not possible," he told Turkish reporters, adding: "There could be a slowdown on chapters."
The Commission issued mixed reports on eight candidate or aspirant countries, recommending no dramatic step forward with any of them as it seeks to rebuild political support for an enlargement policy that now faces deep public scepticism.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said EU expansion was not an express but "a slow, slow train coming and not precisely up around the bend". Yet it was essential to keep that train on track so the EU could use its "soft power" to transform its neighbourhood democratically.