European Union foreign ministers agreed on Monday to relaunch moves to end an economic embargo of Turkish-backed Northern Cyprus, but diplomats said a fast resumption of trade was unlikely, according to Reuters. The decision was taken a month after the EU partially froze entry talks with Turkey over Ankara's refusal to open ports to Cyprus and diplomats said it was intended to show Ankara its path to Europe remained open. A statement said EU states should resume "without delay" work aimed at adopting a proposal for a regulation covering trade conditions with Northern Cyprus. The move firmed up a commitment made last month to soften the blow of a separate decision to freeze eight of the 35 negotiating "chapters" in Turkey's EU talks over Ankara's refusal to open its ports to traffic from Cyprus.
