Turkey furious after EU accession talks hit setback

EU leaders and Turkey were struggling to repair relations following bitter recriminations between both sides yesterday in Copenhagen over the failure to give a starting date for EU membership talks.

Hopes of resolving 28 years of a divided Cyprus were also dashed when the Turkish Cypriot representative walked out of talks saying he would not sign anything before the 4.30pm deadline. But Turkey is expected to agree to work to achieve a united Cyprus by 28 February.

The failure was being blamed on Turkey’s disappointment at failing to get an early date for their negotiations to begin on EU membership. But EU leaders tried to soften the blow before their summit ended last night and agreed that the date would be without further delay once they got the all clear on the strict standards on democracy.