Cyprus likely to remain divided

Greek Cypriots poured scorn on the UN reunification plan for their island today 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 toward 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 northern part of the island.

“I will vote no,” said retired Greek Cypriot school teacher Costas Gregorio. “I can’t accept that as victims of the Turkish invasion we will end up paying for the consequences of that crime.”

“They took everything and left,” said the nationalist Simerini newspaper on its front page, suggesting Turkey had got what it wanted at the expense of the Greek Cypriots.

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

Cypriot president Tassos Papadopoulos is due back on the island tonight when he will give his first reaction to the UN plan.

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

Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, who did not attend the Geneva talks, expressed reservations on the plan and signalled he could campaign for a no vote in the referendum.

“As it stands now, I don’t see anything that would make me say yes,” he said.

The EU made a strong appeal to both sides today to persuade their ethnic communities to accept the UN plan, saying there was no alternative.

Guenter Verheugen, who represented the EU at the reunification talks, said the deal was “the best and most balanced solution that can possibly be achieved” to get a unified Cyprus into the EU on May 1.

Annan ordered parallel referendums on April 24 in both the Greek and Turkish parts of the Mediterranean island for voters to decide whether to accept his blueprint.

If either Greek or Turkish Cypriots reject Annan’s plan, only the Greek part of the island will join the EU on May 1.

“The alternative is not this plan or another plan,” EU expansion commissioner Verheugen, told the European Parliament in Strasbourg. “The alternative is this plan or nothing, no solution at all...I don’t think in the future we will have another opportunity, to arrive at a solution to this issue.”