Greek, Turkish Cypriot leaders urge a No vote

Defying strong international pressures, the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders have both called on their voters to reject the United Nations plan for reunification to be submitted to simultaneous referenda in the two parts of Cyprus on April 24.

Rauf Denktash, President of the self-styled Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (only recognised by Turkey) said the referenda were "pointless", and should be postponed to allow continued negotiations. He agreed with Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos that there had been insufficient time to fully discuss the UN's final proposals - the fifth draft of the so-called Annan Plan presented in the last hours of UN-sponsored negotiations in Switzerland ending on March 31, also attended by Greece and Turkey. The UN has warned that it would not sponsor any further negotiations should the referenda fail.

In a tearful televised 'proclamation' on Wednesday evening, the Cypriot President called on his compatriots to "say a resounding No on April 24... the consequences of Yes are heavier and more onerous." Financial costs of reunification could be very high for Greek Cypriots, he added.

Papadopoulos also accused the UN of 'tilting' towards Turkish demands in its plan. While the Turkish Cypriot community would gain all its basic demands 24 hours after the referenda, he warned that "everything that the Greek Cypriot community aspired to achieve, even from a bad and painful solution, was postponed without guarantees and depended upon the good will of Turkey to fulfil its obligations."

In contrast, the Greek Cypriot AKEL (Communist) party, the leader of the government coalition, as well as the Turkish Cypriot governing party, both support the reunification plan. However, the influential Greek Orthodox Cyprus Church has formally called for a No vote.

If the plan does not win a Yes majority from both Greek and Turkish Cypriots, the present Republic of Cyprus will become an EU member state on May 1.

Earlier last week, the European Commissioner for Enlargement, Gunther Verheugen, urged Cypriot leaders "to do all they can to convince... people... that the plan on the table is the best and most balanced solution that could be reached. The choice... is between this plan or no solution at all for a very long time."

The Commission also presented a proposal for incorporating temporary derogations to the EU acquis communautaire contained in the UN plan to accommodate the special situation of the Turkish Cypriot state to be set up under the proposed United Republic of Cyprus. The Commission will host a pre-donors' conference on Thursday to generate promises of financial assistance for Cyprus reunification.

Clearing the way to opening Turkish accession talks with EU is identified as the key driver underlying present international pressures on Cypriots. The European Commission will be presenting its opinion on Turkey's aspirations in October with December 2004 cited as a possible date for a formal decision on opening accession negotiations. Under the Annan Plan, the United Republic of Cyprus which would become an EU member on May 1 (should the referenda succeed), is obliged to support Turkey's EU membership bid.

However, the new French Foreign Minister, Michel Barnier, told the French parliament last week that France would oppose an EU application from Turkey because "it does not respect the conditions, even if it is preparing to do so."