Turkey’s decision to boycott Cyprus’s presidency of the European Union is a sign of disrespect for European norms and will do nothing to advance Ankara’s ambitions of joining the 27-member bloc, Greece said on Tuesday.

“Turkey was wrong to waste the opportunity of Cyprus’s presidency. Ankara wasted a major opportunity and, eventually, undermined its own European path,” Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos (photo) said during a visit by his Cypriot counterpart, Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis, to Athens.

He said the decision to break off relations with the presidency during Cyprus’s six-month term, which began in July, showed contempt for EU institutions.