Europe’s leaders on Wednesday sought to prevent Turkey’s troubled European Union membership bid from plunging into a full-blown crisis, as Ankara responded angrily to a call for much of the negotiations to be put on hold.

The events were sparked by a recommendation from the European Commission to freeze talks on almost a quarter of the negotiating topics because of a dispute between Turkey and Cyprus. Turkish officials expressed anger that they were not informed by Brussels in advance. One described the decision and its timing as “a bolt of lightning”.