ANKARA - Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul on Monday expressed backing for a proposal by EU term president Finland to hold meetings on the long-running Cyprus problem, but said their format was yet to be finalised.
"This is a constructive effort and we support all kinds of constructive effort," Gul told reporters when queried over the Finnish plan to meet with Turkey and Greece, the rival sides on divided Cyprus.
A spokesman for the Finnish presidency confirmed in Brussels that the talks were to be held on November 5-6, a few days ahead of a key report the European Commission will issue on Turkey's progress in negotiations for membership of the European bloc.
The spokesman did not give any details on the participants or the location of the meeting.
Gul said it was not yet finalised whether the meeting would take place in Finland or whether Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja would pay a visit to the region.
"What is important is that there is a balanced outcome in the end. That is why I think a visit (by Tuomioja) to the region would be more beneficial," he said after talks with visiting Belgian Foreign Minister Karel de Gucht.
A Turkish Cypriot source earlier told AFP that the breakaway Turkish State of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which covers a northern part of the divided island, had been invited to the November 5-6 talks and would be represented by its foreign minister Turgay Avci.
Turkey's NTV news channel reported that apart from the Turkish Cypriots, Finland had also sent invitations to Cypriot Foreign Minister George Lillikas and Gul.
It reported that the talks would focus on a Finnish plan to resolve a trade row over Cyprus between Turkey and the European Union.
Turkey is obliged to open its ports and airports to vessels flying the flag of Cyprus, which it does not recognize, under a 2005 protocol extending its customs union agreement to new EU countries including the neighbouring island.
Ankara refuses to do so unless the EU makes good on its promises to end the international isolation of the TRNC, recognized as a state only by Ankara.
The EU has warned Turkey that failure to honour its obligations under the customs union agreement could result in a suspension of its membership talks with the bloc that began last year.
The European Commmission, the EU's executive arm, is scheduled to issue a report on November 8 on Turkey's progress towards membership, which is expected to largely determine the future of accession talks.
10/30/2006 20:13 GMT