Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash today surprisingly appointed the leader of a pro-EU party to form the next government in the breakaway state.

The Turkish Cypriot opposition took a slim lead today in crucial parliamentary elections that could shape the future of divided Cyprus and help define Turkey’s relations with the European Union, early election results showed.

Turkish Cypriots voted today in crucial parliamentary elections that have become a virtual referendum on a plan to reunify the divided island before it enters the European Union in May.

TURKISH Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash said yesterday the signing of an EU accession treaty

The United Nations Security Council remained divided today over a resolution backing Secretary General Kofi Annan’s plan to reunify Cyprus and calling on Greek and Turkish Cypriots to use it as a basis for a settlement.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan was today warning the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders that any failure to agree on his unification plan would entrench the division of the Mediterranean island.

Voting ended in the crucial Greek Cypriot presidential election today with exit polls showing opposition candidate Tassos Papadopoulos may emerge victorious.

Greek Cypriot President Glafcos Clerides announced today he will seek re-election for a limited third term in order to continue handling the delicate negotiations for the reunification of the war-divided island.

The UN today handed Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders its long-awaited plan for the reunification of their divided island.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan will travel to Cyprus this month in hopes of forming the outline of an agreement to reunify the Mediterranean island after a 27-year split, his chief envoy for Cyprus said.

Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders began an intensive round of negotiations today in a bid to overcome the division of their island, a problem that may bedevil the enlargement of the European Union.

The Cypriot reunification talks will begin next week with addressing how to share power between Greek and Turkish islanders in a new republic.

Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash crossed into the Greek Cypriot-controlled part of Cyprus today for the first time since the 1974 Turkish invasion.