Cyprus unity talks fail

Negotiators failed tonight in their attempts to agree Cyprus reunification, said a Turkish official.

He said they will now leave the plan to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to finalise and present to the Cypriot people.

“Everybody has said their final words. The negotiations and diplomacy traffic is over,” the official said.

The document now goes to separate referendums in the two communities on April 20.

It must be approved by both sides for reunification before Cyprus joins the EU on May 1.

Hopes of a deal between the leaders of Greece, Turkey and divided Cyprus by a midnight deadline had faded during the day as diplomats expressed pessimism and the EU ruled out agreeing to one of the major Turkish demands.

“As thing stand now, the chances for an agreement are poor,” said Greek government spokesman Theodoros Roussopolos during a break from the UN sponsored talks in the Swiss mountain resort of Buergenstock.

The EU reiterated that it was ready to accept any deal to reunify Cyprus - except one that permanently denies Turkish or Greek Cypriots the right to settle anywhere on their island.

The Annan plan envisages a federation of two states – one Greek and the other Turkish – with a loose central government.

If Annan’s plan is rejected by either community in the referendums, Cyprus will join the European Union on May 1 as planned but EU rules will only apply to the internationally recognised southern, Greek Cypriot part of the island.

Even though Annan has the final say, the opinions of the political leaders of both sides will influence the votes of the Cypriot people on both sides.

Cyprus has been split into the Greek Cypriot-controlled south and the occupied north since Turkey invaded in 1974 in the wake of a short-lived coup by supporters of union with Greece. The breakaway state is only recognised by Turkey, which maintains 40,000 troops there.