Turkey scraps gathering after row with EU over Turkish Cypriots

ISTANBUL, Oct 1 (AFP) - Turkey said Friday it had scrapped talks in Istanbul next week between the European Union and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) amid a row with Brussels over the participation of Turkish Cypriots officials.
The spat came as an unpleasant episode just days before the release of an October 6 report on Turkey's progress towards EU membership, widely expected to be a favorable one. The report will form the basis for a December 17 decision by EU leaders on whether to start accession talks with Turkey.
The cancellation of the talks followed a call on EU members by the Dutch presidency to boycott the meeting after Turkey inisted on calling the breakaway Turkish Cypriot enclave a "state" at the gathering, the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.
"The decision of the EU presidency not to participate and the appeal it made to other member nations to follow suit... has resulted in the cancellation of this informal gathering of foreign ministers," the statement said.
The meeting, which was scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, was intended to promote better ties and understanding between Europe and Muslim countries.
The first such talks between the EU and the OIC were held in Istanbul in February 2002, in the wake of the September 11 attacks in the United States the previous year.
"I'm surprised that Turkey is risking a new row with Europe in the middle of an important phase of its EU candidacy," a European diplomat told AFP on the condition of the anonymity.
He described Turkey's attitude as "a remarkable example of amateurism ahead of the historical December 17 decision."
At the heart of the row was a decision by the OIC in June to refer to the breakaway Turkish Cypriot community, which has an observer status in the pan-Islamic group, as "the Cypriot Turkish state," without formally recognizing it.
The decision was a gesture to the Turkish Cypriots following the strong support they gave to a UN plan to end the 30-year division of Cyprus in an April referendum.
The peace effort failed when the internationally-recognized Greek Cypriot south of the island rejected the plan, ensuring that they alone joined the EU on May 1.
The Greek Cypriots, backed by EU member Greece, are categorically opposed to any move that could imply recognition of the self-styled Turkish Cypriot statelet in the north, called the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
Only Turkey recognizes the TRNC and keeps several thousands troops there.
"We regret the fact that an important initiative, aimed at contributing to world peace by promoting dialogue between civilizations and cultures, has been prevented due to such an unessential reason," the foreign ministry said.
"We would like to thank all those EU and OIC countries which had envisaged to take part on a high-level in the forum," it added.
Turkey had assured EU countries that their participation in the gathering alongside the Turkish Cypriots would not amount to a recognition of the TRNC.
Ankara, however, had rejected an EU formula to solve the problem under which representatives of observer nations would sit at the table without name plaques.