BRUSSELS, Belgium: European Union nations were divided Wednesday over whether to partially freeze membership talks with predominantly Muslim Turkey over Ankara's refusal to open its ports to EU member Cyprus.
Diplomats and officials said they were braced for difficult meetings to find consensus between all 25 EU countries before a Dec. 14-15 EU leaders summit, which will decide the fate of Turkey's decades-old membership bid.
"We are in quite a problematic situation," said Sweden's Foreign Minister Carl Bildt. "Opinions are divided on the issue."
Divisions among EU leaders were laid bare after the European Commission recommended partially halting membership talks to protest of Ankara's refusal to extend an agreed-to customs union with Cyprus and nine other countries that joined the EU in 2004.
Prime Minister Tony Blair called it a "serious mistake" to send Turkey a negative message on membership now, and Spain's Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero urged leaders to "work intensively" to keep the EU's doors open to Ankara.
Bildt also criticized the recommendation for going too far and risked destabilizing the region if Europe choses to freeze its ties with Turkey, which many see as a strategic and stable partner in an otherwise volatile region.
"I see a risk they are putting the brakes on too hard," Bildt said. "There is a risk of collateral damage being fairly extensive ... we want to increase the stability in a very volatile part of the world, are these recommendations best geared toward those objectives, that's going to be the debate."
French President Jacques Chirac said France "was in line with Germany and other partners" that the EU "has no other choice" given Turkey's refusal to adopt a customs pact with the EU, which would open Turkish ports to Cyprus — a country that Ankara refuses to recognize.
Denmark's Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the EU had to "send a very clear signal" to Turkey that it must live up to its promises on Cyprus and on speeding up what he called the slow pace of reforms there.
"It is Turkey that must adapt to the EU," he said. "It's not the other way around."
Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan reacted with dismay at the recommendation.
"Such a decision is unacceptable," private NTV television quoted Erdogan as saying during a NATO summit in Latvia.
"We will not allow anyone to trample on our rights," Egemen Bagis, an aide to Erdogan, told NTV. He said Turkish leaders would still try to avert a partial suspension.
A decision by EU governments to slow entry talks would likely cause a rift in relations with Turkey over its bid to join the bloc and potentially damage the EU's image on the world stage. Negotiations started in October 2005.
"We confirm that these negotiations continue, although at a slower pace," EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn told reporters. "Failure to meet legal obligations cannot remain without consequences."
Rehn added, however, that Turkey still had time to resolve the standoff over Cyprus and avert a firm EU decision to partially freeze the negotiations.
He said a visit on Friday to Ankara by Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, whose country holds the EU presidency, still offered a chance for Turkey to change its mind.
The recommendation, drafted by Rehn, called on EU governments not to open negotiations on issues that touch upon Turkey's relations with Cyprus. These include such issues as the free movement of goods, financial services, agriculture, fisheries, transport policy, customs union policy and external relations issues.
They would officially suspend 8 of 35 so-called policy chapters in the negotiations, which have already effectively been at a standstill since September, after Cyprus, Greece and France blocked further talks until the standoff is resolved.
Such a freeze would significantly slow Turkey's EU membership talks, which already were expected to last at least a decade, and which the EU said offered "no guarantee" of eventual membership.
Rehn also recommended that no chapter of the package could be finalized until Turkey moves to open its ports to Cyprus.
He said he expected his recommendation "will receive wide support," however initial reactions drew doubt on an easy first discussion on the measure by EU foreign ministers next week.
Cyprus, Greece and France have taken a hard line against Turkey in recent months over the standoff, demanding that talks be suspended. Britain, Sweden and Spain are urging that the EU ensure talks are not frozen, fearing a rupture in ties with predominantly Muslim Turkey.
Cyprus has been divided into north and south since Turkey invaded the island in 1974, anticipating an attempt by Greek speakers to forge a union with Greece. The breakaway Turkish Cypriot state in the north is recognized only by Ankara and has been under a crippling international embargo for years.
In 2004, shortly before the island joined the EU, Greek Cypriot voters rejected a U.N. proposal to unify the island while Turkish Cypriots endorsed it.
The continuation of Turkey's EU entry talks had hinged on its readiness to trade with the Greek-speaking part of Cyprus that joined the union in 2004. In exchange, the EU said it would lift an embargo on the northern part of the island.
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