"Turkish Cypriot leaders drop objections to customs union
By Simon Bahceli
THREE Turkish Cypriot leaders said yesterday they would express no objection to Turkey signing an EU customs union agreement with the Republic of Cyprus � as long as Turkey accompanied the agreement with a statement that customs union did not constitute full political recognition of the Republic.
The first such statement came on Thursday night in a speech delivered by Turkish Cypriot �prime minister� Mehmet Ali Talat at Istanbul�s Bilgi University, in which Talat said it was not necessary for Turkey to wait until October 3 to sign the customs union agreement with the Republic of Cyprus and the EU�s nine other new members. Signing the agreement is something Turkey must do if it is to start accession negotiations to join the 25-nation bloc later this year.
�I have no objection to Turkey signing as soon as possible,� Talat told his audience. He added, however, that signing the agreement did not constitute full political recognition of the Greek Cypriot-dominated Republic. "
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