Cyprus set to stay split after failed unity talks

GREEK Cypriots poured scorn on the UN reunification plan for their island yesterday while Turkish Cypriots described the blueprint – which will go to parallel referendums next month – as a success.

After talks between officials on both sides of the Cypriot divide failed in Switzerland last night, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan unveiled his own blueprint that bridges the remaining gaps and will be put to the vote on April 24.

Turkish Cypriots in the island’s north are expected to vote in favour of Annan’s plan, while the larger Greek Cypriot population in the south appears to be gearing towards a no vote.

Cyprus has been split into the Greek Cypriot-controlled south and the occupied north since Turkey invaded in 1974 following a short-lived Greek Cypriot coup by supporters of union with Greece.

The breakaway state is only recognised by Turkey, which maintains 40,000 troops on the Mediterranean island.

Turkey’s government, which is keen to see a settlement in Cyprus as a step toward eventually joining the EU itself, quickly endorsed the proposal.

But Greek and Greek Cypriot officials have expressed disappointment in the plan’s failure to guarantee a complete Turkish troop withdrawal and the return of all Greek Cypriot refugees to their homes in the north.

Greek Cypriot opposition party leader Nicos Anastassiades sounded positive: “At first sight there seems to be a prospect of a settlement that is hopefully viable if one looks at it objectively.”

Mehmet Ali Talat, the Turkish Cypriot prime minister, said the plan had “more pluses than minuses” for his people.