Turkey's membership in the European Union rests heavily on Ankara's conduct toward the war-divided island of Cyprus, Greek Premier Costas Caramanlis said Saturday. "We have made it clear, in all sincerity, that we support the European orientation of Turkey," Caramanlis said. "But Turkey's path toward Europe primarily depends first and foremost on itself. It depends on its effort to comply with European laws and principles and particularly (on) its conduct toward the Republic of Cyprus." Caramanlis was addressing a special session of the Cyprus parliament on the second day of an official visit to coordinate a joint policy for the Dec. 17 EU summit that will consider granting Turkey a date for entry talks. Cyprus has been divided into a Greek Cypriot controlled south and a Turkish-occupied north since Turkey invaded in 1974 in the wake of an abortive coup by supporters of union with Greece. A breakaway Turkish Cypriot state in the north is recognized only by Turkey, which maintains 40,000 troops there. --more 1419 Local Time 1119 GMT
