Turkey reportedly rejects EU offer to open talks on new chapters if ports opened to Greek Cyprus

Turkey reportedly rejected a recent proposal by Belgium, the European Union's current president, that two more chapters in Ankara's EU negotiations be opened in return for Turkey opening its ports and airports to Greek Cyprus. A senior government official who asked to remain unnamed said that doing so is out of the question until a lasting Cyprus resolution is found. Turkey strongly believes that the EU has not been constructive in its efforts for a permanent solution on the island. The EU insists that Turkey is obliged to open its ports and airports to traffic from Greek Cyprus under the agreement known as the Ankara Protocol, and there have been intensified efforts over the past two months to overcome this hurdle.