ANKARA, Aug 18 (AFP) - Ankara and Turkish Cypriot leaders urged the European Union Wednesday to implement promised measures to ease the international isolation of the breakaway Turkish community in the divided island of Cyprus.
"Unfortunately, what has to be done has not yet been done... The EU`s credibility will be shattered if it does not fulfil its promises," Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told reporters.
He was speaking after talks here with Mehmet Ali Talat and Serdar Denktash, the prime minister and foreign minister of the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which is recognized only by Ankara.
The EU has drawn up a series of measures to ease the economic isolation of the TRNC as a reward for the strong support that Turkish Cypriots gave to a failed UN plan to end Cyprus` division.
But a final decision on the measures, which include 259 million euros (320 million dollars) in economic aid, has been postponed until September following objections by the internationally-recognized Greek Cypriot side.
The settlement plan for Cyprus, voted on both sides of the island in April, was killed off by a strong "no" vote in the Greek Cypriot sector.
The failure ensured that the Greek Cypriots alone joined the EU on May 1.
In a separate move, Talat asked UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to put pressure on the EU to honor its pledges, or risk seeking the Turkish Cypriots lose their desire for reunification in the future.
"I do hope that you shall consider encouraging the EU to take positive and concrete steps towards our people," Talat said in an August 13 letter to Annan, which was made available to AFP Wednesday.
"The obstructionist behavior of the Greek Cypriot side, coupled with indecision and slowness being displayed by the European Union is extremely frustrating.
"If the EU is only going to act in line with the whims and wishes of the Greek Cypriot side then it is obvious that very little can be done... Disappointment and gloom shall inevitably lead to a hardening of attitudes amongst our people," he wrote.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey occupied the north with the stated aim of protecting the Turkish Cypriot minority against a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at uniting the island with Greece.