Turkey on Friday canceled a gathering of EU and Islamic nations aimed at improving relations between the two blocs following a dispute with the European Union over the status of Turkish Cypriots, the Foreign Ministry said. Turkey, an overwhelmingly Muslim country that hopes to join the EU, was scheduled to host a two-day gathering of foreign ministers from the 25-member EU and the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference in Istanbul Oct. 4-5. But Turkey and the EU failed to reach an agreement over how to address the self-declared Turkish Cypriot state, which has observer status in the OIC, despite weeks of negotiations to reach a compromise. "Turkey is saddened by the fact that such an important initiative that aims to contribute to world peace through dialogue between civilizations and cultures has been blocked because of an unrelated issue," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
