Since the beginning of the year, Turkey has once again hit the headlines of the Western media with the mass arrival of illegal Kurdish immigrants on Italian territory. This was a further episode of a bilateral crisis since the holding of the Luxembourg European Council 12-13 December 1997 , when the Turkish authorities showed their disappointment and unhappiness over the EU decision to exclude Turkey from the list of candidates for membership of the European Union EU in the next expansion round. In the light of developments since negotiations for the accession of Cyprus began on 31 March 1998, this will not in all likelihood be the last time the parties are at variance.