[JURIST] European Union leaders agreed Thursday on a date of October 3, 2005 for the start of official talks with Turkey regarding its potential accession to the European Union. The European Parliament voted for the opening of talks earlier this week. At the same time, however, EU leaders are insisting that Tukey normalize its relations with Cyprus by that time, raising the spectre of political difficulties with Ankara over an extremely sensitive issue. Turkey supports a separate Turkish enclave in the north of the island and does not recognize the Greek Cypriot government in the south. Read the press release on the start of accession talks issued by the EU's Dutch Presidency here. Reuters has more. The EU provides background material on its relations with Turkey.