Hürriyet can reveal that ahead of the opening of Turkey's EU entry talks on October 3, Britain silenced Greek Cypriot demands for extracting more concession from Turkey by threatening to recognize the Turkish Cypriot state. The Greek Cypriot daily “Filelefteros” has described British attitudes as “blackmail”. The Greek Cypriots were apparently trying to extract guarantees for NATO membership, but the strong warnings of Britain and the US forced them to step back.

Greek Cypriot media reported that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had phoned Greek Cypriot Minister of Foreign Affairs George Iacovou to convey a warning to him and Britain had mentioned possibilities for the recognition of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).