Cyprus won’t open EU accession chapters for Turkey

Cyprus cannot shift from its positions and accept the opening of chapters in Turkey's EU accession negotiations, as long as Turkey does not meet its commitments, President Demetris Christofias said on Thursday.
Replying to questions, the president said the Republic of Cyprus has its positions, which are well-known, and is in contact with European Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule and the Cypriot MEPs, ''so that things happen as they should.''
He explained that this meant that ''if Turkey does not meet its obligations, we cannot shift and accept the opening of chapters.''
Cyprus will be holding the EU rotating presidency in the second half of 2012. Turkey does not recognise the Republic of Cyprus and has said it will freeze contacts with the EU during that period. Cyprus has put on hold some negotiating chapters in Turkey’s accession talks due to Ankara’s refusal to meet its obligations towards Cyprus, including normalizing relations with Nicosia.