Ship standoff with Greek Cyprus, Erdoğan adamant

Turkey denied permission on Wednesday to a Greek Cypriot vessel seeking to dock at a Mediterranean port, a refusal that may strain ties between Turkey and the European Union, which it aspires to join.

The vessel, a RoRo ship, asked the Mersin port authority for permission to dock but was denied leave to do so. Despite the refusal, the Greek Cypriot vessel, Able F, was moored some two miles away from the port while Turkish Coast Guard boats monitored its movements, the Anatolia news agency said.

The standoff comes as the European Union is pressuring candidate Turkey to open its ports and airports to traffic from Greek Cyprus. Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel, speaking on Tuesday after talks with visiting Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopoulos, said Ankara has until the end of the year to authorize Greek Cypriot planes and ships to enter its airports and ports and to recognize the Greek Cypriot administration.

However, Turkey dismisses any link between the Cyprus issue and its bid to join the EU. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, apparently responding to Schuessel's remarks, rejected EU pressure on Cyprus. “We will never accept the EU threat of suspending the negotiating process with Turkey in connection with Cyprus,” he said in the Aegean resort town of Kuşadası.

Erdoğan made clear that recognition of Greek Cyprus was not among EU criteria required for full membership and said laying down the issue as a condition Turkey has to fulfill was not ethically correct. He also called on the EU to correct the “mistake” it first made by accepting Greek Cyprus as a member.