Ball in Brussels Court for Adaptation Protocol

Straw said at a joint news conference held with Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul following a meeting in London on Monday (March 14) that "The ball is now in the EU’s court". Gul in return said they were ready to sign the protocol and were waiting for Brussels to clarify the procedure that needed to be followed. Straw responded to the question, "Will the Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopulous attempt to slow down the process on October 3 like he did on December 17?" Straw said, "We, as the EU Council, decided in the Brussels Summit, that the negotiations will begin on October 3. We do not want any problems. The only issue that we will concentrate on is the preparations for the negotiations." An initiative to be held in Great Britain due to undertake the EU term presidency in July, to support the end of the isolation imposed on the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was planned. Giving details about the content of his meeting with Straw, Gul stressed that the Turkish side could take affirmative steps regarding the issue following the elections in May.

The Turkish Foreign Minister began his meetings in London when he arrived on Saturday (March 12) with an interview with the Financial Times, a prominent British business and financial newspaper. Gul also had a meeting lunch with distinguished representatives from business circles and made a speech at the technology giant, Bloomberg’s London office, Bloomberg’s founder is also the current mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg. The Foreign Minister mentioned in his speech that a new agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would be signed by the end of April and called on British businessmen to participate in the increased privatization activities of Turkish companies such as TUPRAS, the Turkish state owned oil refinery; Turkish Airlines, THY, and PETKIM, the Turkish petroleum and chemical monopoly and Turk Telekom; the Turkish Telecommunication company.