20/07/2006 (Agence Europe) - In an interview to the Financial Times on 20 July, the Turkish minister for foreign affairs Abdullah Gül warned that prevarication on Turkish accession to the EU and US policy in the Middle East were provoking an anti-western backlash in Turkey. The minister stated that, “Moderate liberal people are becoming anti-American and anti-EU…If our young dynamic, educated and economically active people become bitter…it is not good”. In the context of the Turkish opening up of their ports to Greek Cypriots as requested by the EU, Mr Gül warned, “This is impossible. No elected government in Turkey can do this” unless the Greek Cypriots lift their veto on direct trade with the north of Cyprus. He recognised that “We must get rid of this problem” because “the Cyprus question is always poisoning things”.