Turkey Rejects Unilateral Opening of Ports to Greek Cypriot Vessels, Goods – Bloomberg

Turkey will not open its ports to Greek Cypriot vessels and goods unless the European Union lifts its trade embargo on Turkish-controlled northern Cyprus at the same time, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

“If there’s a simultaneous opening of ports and airports, then we’ll be a part of it,” Erdogan said to reporters in Ankara. “No one should expect anything different.”

Cyprus has been divided into a Greek Cypriot south, which is internationally recognized, and a Turkish-run north, which is not, since Turkey invaded the Mediterranean island in 1974 after a coup by supporters of a full union with Greece.

The north of the island is under an effective blockade by the EU and most of the rest of the world, with direct flights banned and almost all trade carried out via Turkey. The EU has frozen some areas of Turkey’s membership negotiations because of its refusal to recognize the Greek Cypriot government after Cyprus joined the bloc in 2004.

To contact the reporter responsible for this story: Benjamin Harvey at Bharvey11@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Hirschberg in Jerusalem at phirschberg@bloomberg.net.

via Turkey Rejects Unilateral Opening of Ports to Greek Cypriot Vessels, Goods – Bloomberg.