HELSINKI - Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer has cancelled a planned visit to Finland, but the Finnish government denied the move was linked to Turkey`s spat with the EU over a crackdown on an Istanbul demonstration.
"There was a last minute problem with the program," Finnish presidential spokeswoman Maria Romantschuk was quoted as saying by the FNB news agency. "It is no more dramatic than that."
Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Namik Tan agreed, telling AFP that "this visit has been postponed because of certain difficulties concerning the program. These difficulties had emerged before the visit of the (EU) troika".
The daily Helsingin Sanomat on Wednesday however reported that Sezer, according to "reliable sources", had taken offence at sharp European protests at the police handling of a women`s rally on Sunday.
The incident overshadowed a visit to Turkey by EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn, a Finn, who said Wednesday a change of mindset was needed by Ankara for it to embrace democratic reform and join Europe.
He also said Ankara had failed to live up to its commitments on economic questions, notably a 1996 customs agreement.
Finland takes over the rotating six-month presidency of the European Union in July 2006.
03/09/2005 17:24 GMT