Cyprus stalemate threatens Turkey's EU membership bid talks

Cyprus’ insistence that the EU pressure on Turkey towards establishing relations with the divided island’s government today threatened to derail Ankara’s first detailed negotiations to join the EU before they could begin.

In Luxembourg, Cypriot foreign minister George Iakovou said there was “no progress” in the stand-off between his country and the rest of the EU at the weekend, with Cyprus still insisting the EU must remind Turkey of its obligation to normalise relations with Nicosia and include it in a customs union with the 25-nation bloc.