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Breakthrough UN deal sealed on Cyprus unity talks
Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders on Friday accepted a U.N. plan for reaching a deal on reunifying Cyprus before its May 1 entry into the European Union, a crucial breakthrough capping three decades of failed diplomacy over the Mediterranean island. The agreement crowned three days of negotiations in New York in which U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan pressed the leaders to demonstrate their will to resolve the impasse on the island, split into ethnic Greek and Turkish enclaves since a 1974 invasion of the north by Turkey. "Following three days of meetings and consultations, I am pleased to announce that the parties have committed to negotiations in good faith on the basis of my plan," a beaming Annan said at a news conference. But all sides warned of the potential pitfalls ahead. "There is still a lot of work to do. It is not all over yet. We must all be very careful. For a lasting peace, the realities of the island must be taken into account," Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told reporters in Ankara, Turkey's capital. The stakes could not be higher for both Cyprus and Turkey. Without a settlement, Cyprus would enter the European Union on May 1 as a divided island and be represented only by the internationally recognized Greek Cypriot government. This would deepen the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots and could derail Turkey's own bid to open entry talks with the EU in early 2005. Frustrated after talks extended into the early morning hours of Friday without an agreement, Annan had asked the internationally recognized Greek Cypriot south and the Turkish Cypriot north, which is recognized only by Turkey, to either sign or reject his page-and-a-half plan for the conduct of the final negotiations.
OVERNIGHT BARRAGE OF DIPLOMACY The talks had deadlocked mainly over the Greek Cypriot side's insistence on bringing European Union experts into the negotiation process, a proposal the Turkish Cypriot side strongly opposed. But an overnight barrage of diplomacy by the United States and Britain, the former colonial power, convinced the Greek side to back down, diplomats close to the talks said. Secretary of State Colin Powell and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw personally made calls, they said. Turkey, whose own efforts to start talks to join the European Union hinge on the Cyprus peace process, had also been pushing Denktash to reach a deal. In a compromise, the final pact allowed European Union experts to participate in a technical committee on financial and economic matters. Another key sticking point was resolved when both sides agreed to let Annan fill in any gaps in a final agreement on which the two sides deadlocked. In case of deadlock by a March 22 deadline, Turkey and Greece would be brought in for a week of intensive negotiations, and if that failed, "I have the right to complete the plan," with a goal of a final text by March 29, he said. Denktash, widely blamed for the collapse of peace talks last year, had surprised the Greek Cypriot side this week by accepting Annan's demand that the two sides reach agreement on a text by the end of March. "A lot of hard work is still needed and there are still tough questions ahead, but if all concerned show the same courage and good will during the next three months that they have shown in the last three days, I believe there is now a real chance that before the first of May, Cyprus will be reunited," Annan said.
Annan's blueprint for a Cypriot state foresees a weak central government over
a federation of two ethnic zones. |
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