CYPRUS: The Turkish Prime Minister, Mr Abdullah Gul, said yesterday UN Secretary-General Mr Kofi Annan would unveil another peace plan next week in a last-ditch attempt to reunite partitioned Cyprus.
Mr Annan travels to Ankara, Athens and Nicosia next week in an attempt to breathe life into stalled peace talks between Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders aimed at ending their decades-old division before a UN deadline at the end of the month.
"We are all trying to solve the problem, there is a good chance for that. Secretary-General Annan is coming to Turkey next week. We know that he has another plan, something we hope will be to the satisfaction of both sides," Mr Gul said at a press conference in Brussels after meeting Mr Annan at an EU emergency summit on Iraq.
Mr Gul said Mr Annan had not disclosed what changes he had made to the UN blueprint, but these would be discussed during his visit.
The chances for a settlement in the next 10 days have been complicated by Greek Cypriot elections on Sunday, in which Mr Tassos Papadopoulos - who is unenthusiastic about the UN plan - was voted president.
But Mr Papadopoulos said after his victory he remained committed to peace talks which his predecessor, Mr Glafcos Clerides, had entered into with Turkish Cypriot leader Mr Rauf Denktash.
UN negotiators have set a February 28th deadline as the last possible date for agreement if Cyprus is to be reunited before it signs a treaty on April 16th to join the EU.
Brussels has said it will admit Cyprus with or without a settlement, which could lead to a crisis with Turkey, an EU candidate.
Greek Cypriots may lack incentive to make the concessions Mr Annan's plan demands once they have clinched the prize of EU membership, virtually assured after the April treaty.
The Mediterranean island's division has been a permanent source of friction between Greece and Turkey. Only Ankara recognises the Turkish enclave in northern Cyprus, where it keeps some 30,000 troops.
Cyprus has been partitioned along ethnic lines since a 1974 Turkish invasion in response to a short-lived Greek Cypriot coup backed by the military junta then ruling Greece.