BRUSSELS - The European Union's executive commission confirmed on Tuesday that it had received a letter from Ankara giving Turkey's agreement to an extension of its customs agreement with the European Union to Cyprus.
"We've learned that the Turks agree with the text of protocol of the Ankara agreement," said Krisztina Nagy, a spokeswoman for EU enlargement commissioner Ollie Rehn.
"As a result, the council (of European governments) procedure can be set in motion, the (European) Commission can go ahead, it will now be possible for the protocol to be signed," she added
Citing diplomats sources, Turkish news agency reported earlier Tuesday that Turkey had agreed to the deal, the signing of which is a condition for opening EU accession talks with Ankara on October 3.
"The protocol has to be signed before negotiations start, and we have assurances that that will indeed happen in good time before these accession negotiations start," Nagy said.
But she also said that the Ankara's approval of the deal did not amount in the eyes of some European officials to Turkey's formal recognition of Cyprus.
Cyprus has been divided along ethnic lines since 1974 when Turkey seized the north in response to an Athens-engineered coup aimed at uniting the island with Greece.
Ankara hopes that a speedy settlement to the conflict will rid it of what it considers Greek Cypriot efforts to use Turkey's EU bid to extract concessions from Ankara.
The most recent UN bid failed last April when the Greek Cypriots rejected an EU-backed reunification plan, even though the Turkish Cypriots gave it overwhelming support.
The outcome ensured that the Greek Cypriots alone joined the EU on May 1.
03/29/2005 11:39 GMT