Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)
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Question 92: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on whether Turkey will recognise the Republic of Cyprus as part of the negotiations on EU membership; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26922/05]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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On 29 July this year, as part of the preparations for the opening of Turkey EU accession negotiations and in accordance with the conclusions of the December 2004 European Council, Turkey signed the Ankara Agreement Protocol to take account of the accession of the new member states, including the Republic of Cyprus. At the same time however, Turkey also issued a declaration stating that its signature, ratification and implementation of the protocol did not amount to recognition of the Republic of Cyprus.

In response to this declaration, on 21 September the EU agreed and issued a counter-declaration recalling the status of the Republic of Cyprus as a member state of the EU. The counter-declaration noted that recognition of all member states, including Cyprus, is a necessary component of the accession process and underlined the importance the Union attaches to the normalisation of relations between Turkey and all member states as soon as possible. The EU negotiating framework for the Turkish accession negotiations, which opened on 3 October, reiterated the importance of progress in the normalisation of bilateral relations between Turkey and all member states, including the Republic of Cyprus.