ANKARA - The European Commission and Turkey have agreed on the text of an accord concerning Cyprus, the signing of which is a condition for opening accession talks with Ankara later in the year, a Turkish official said Friday.
The protocol would extend an already-existing Turkey-EU customs union to 10 new members who joined the bloc last May, including Cyprus whose internationally-recognized Greek Cypriot government Ankara refuses to endorse.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the two sides had agreed on the terms of the protocol. Turkey was now waiting on Brussels to send the draft to Ankara for final approval, the first step towards the formal signing of the document.
"If the text is in the form that has been agreed, we will go ahead. There is no foot-dragging on our side," the official said.
The European Union wants Turkey to sign the protocol by October 3 when it is set to open accession talks with the mainly Muslim nation.
Ankara has pledged to ink the protocol in time, but maintains that the move will not amount to formal recognition of the Greek Cypriots.
Ankara recognizes the breakaway Turkish Cypriot republic in the north of the long-divided island and insists that it would recognize the whole of Cyprus only after the partition of the island is resolved.
03/25/2005 13:44 GMT