EU warns Turkey time is running out for reaching solution on membership talks

A Dec. 14-15 summit of EU government leaders will assess whether talks can continue, a conclusion that will be based in part on a recommendation of the EU's executive Commission, which could come as early as Dec. 6.

Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, whose country holds the EU presidency, said Ankara must honor commitments it has made concerning Cyprus, including permitting planes and ships from the Greek Cypriot south of the divided island into Turkish ports and airports.

"But time is running out. If there is no agreement and Turkey does not honor its commitments, the EU will need to consider the implications for the accession process," Vanhanen said in Helsinki. "This is not a good scenario and it would mean an uncertain future."

Vanhanen reminded Turkey that the EU has set a Dec. 6 deadline for it to accept a compromise plan. If not, EU leaders who are meeting the following week might suspend Turkey's membership negotiations.

The European Commission chief for enlargement, Olli Rehn, said any recommendation from his office to the leaders had to come before a Dec. 11 meeting of foreign ministers to prepare for the summit.

For the last two years, Turkey has overshadowed more than one summit and Rehn wants to avoid that.

"We don't need another Turkey summit like in 2004 and 2005. The last Commission meeting will take place on Dec. 6, hence this could be a logical moment to make a recommendation on the Commission's part if Turkey has not met its obligations," he said Monday.

Turkey's entry talks began in October 2005. They are at risk of collapsing because Ankara refuses to trade with Cyprus, an EU member since 2004, and rejects a face-saving compromise.

Turkey wants Cyprus' reunification to be left up to the United Nations, saying the EU is not neutral as Cyprus is a member.

The island has been split into a breakaway Turkish Cypriot north and an internationally recognized Greek Cypriot south since 1974, when Turkey invaded in response to an attempted coup aiming to unite the island with Greece. Only Ankara recognizes the Turkish Cypriot state in the north, and refuses to recognize the government in the south.

Under a Finnish compromise plan, Turkey would open its ports to planes and ships from the southern part of the island. In return, the EU would take steps to ease the isolation of Turkish Cypriots. Specifically, the EU would grant northern Cyprus seaport of Famagusta free trade with the bloc if the Turkish side hands over control of the nearby abandoned town of Varosha.

Vanhanen said he was optimistic that a solution could be found and that the Finnish plan would benefit "all parties and avert a crisis in Turkey's accession negotiations."

"All the parties involved have been willing to negotiate. No one has come up with an alternative solution or said that our proposal is unacceptable," Vanhanen said at a seminar attended by lawmakers from across the 25-nation EU.

"We are all on the same page. Therefore the presidency still believes that a solution is possible," he said. The Associated Press

/The International Herald Tribune/