It was a coincidence that Turkey's president, Abdullah Gul, received this year's Chatham House prize from Britain's queen in London on November 9th only hours after the European Commission released its annual report on Turkey's progress towards the European Union. The timing threw a harsh light on Brussels's criticisms, but Mr Gul batted them off. As usual, the eu demanded that Turkey open its ports and airports to Greek-Cypriots. But Mr Gul rejected any idea of a unilateral Turkish concession. The eu has not lifted the isolation of Turkish-Cypriots, despite its promised to do so in 2004, he said. Quietly, his British hosts agreed that more concessions should come from the Greek-Cypriots.
展开▼
