NETHERLANDS: U.N. ANNOUNCE THAT PEACE TALKS BETWEEN GREEK AND TURKISH LEADERS OF DIVIDED ISLAND OF CYPRUS HAVE ENDED IN FAILURE

Record ID: 350423

  • Title: NETHERLANDS: U.N. ANNOUNCE THAT PEACE TALKS BETWEEN GREEK AND TURKISH LEADERS OF DIVIDED ISLAND OF CYPRUS HAVE ENDED IN FAILURE
  • Date: 13th March 2003
  • Summary: (W2) THE HAGUE, THE NETHERLANDS (MARCH 11, 2003)(REUTERS) 1. MV U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL KOFI ANNAN ARRIVING AT TALKS (2 SHOTS) 0.18 2. MV TURKISH CYPRIOT LEADER RAUF DENKTASH ARRIVING AT TALKS (2 SHOTS) 0.34 3. MV GREEK CYPRIOT LEADER TASSOS PAPADOPOULOS ARRIVING AT TALKS (3 SHOTS) 0.55 4. SLV MEMBERS ENTER TALKS AREA; LEADERS AROUND
  • Embargoed: 28th March 2003 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: THE HAGUE, THE NETHERLANDS
  • Country: Netherlands
  • Reuters ID: LVADDAEA6U7TPTBLKF3C6CQWXGP0
  • Story Text: The United Nations announced on Tuesday that peace
    talks between the Greek and Turkish leaders of divided Cyprus
    had ended in failure and there would be no more negotiations.

    I share tonight with all peace loving Greek Cypriots
    and Turkish Cypriots, Greek and Turks, a deep sense of
    sadness. I am not sure that another opportunity like this
    will present itself again any time soon. Nevertheless I want
    the people of Cyprus to know that I have not given up on them.

    I saw in their eyes their longing for peace and
    reunification, I regret that they have been denied the chance
    to decide their own future."
    Annan's special Cyprus envoy, Alvara de Soto, read out the
    statement at a news conference after marathon talks held by
    Annan with Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopoulos and
    Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash.

    Cyprus has been partitioned since Turkish troops invaded
    in 1974, seizing more than one-third of the Mediterranean
    island in response to a coup by Greek Cypriot militants
    seeking union with Greece.

    Annan had asked the two leaders to meet him in The Hague
    in a last-ditch effort to get agreement on a U.N. peace plan
    to reunite the island.

    He had hoped to persuade them to hold referendums on the
    plan on March 30 so that a united Cyprus could sign a
    mid-April accession treaty to join the European Union.

    Papadopoulos and Denktash signalled when they arrived in
    The Hague on Monday morning that they were unhappy with the
    U.N. power-sharing plan, partly because it would involve
    handovers of territory and population movements.

    Denktash believes the handover of some Turkish Cypriot
    territory would create refugees and throw many Turkish
    Cypriots out of their homes.

    Many Greek Cypriots oppose the plan because it commits
    them to sharing power with a minority and restricts the number
    of Greek Cypriot refugees who would be able to return to their
    former homes.

    Annan's was the latest of numerous diplomatic efforts to
    reunite the island and the Monday deadline he set the two
    leaders for reaching agreement was the second in the current
    series of negotiations.

    Former colonial power Britain and the United States had
    thrown their weight behind Annan's efforts, building on the
    impetus of Cyprus's impending accession to the European Union.

    Turkey backed the Turkish Cypriot opposition to the U.N.

    peace plan, although a peace deal is crucial for Turkey's
    hopes of joining the European Union and the failure of the
    talks leaves Turkey at odds with Brussels.

    The internationally recognised Cyprus government, the
    Greek Cypriot part of the island, is due to sign the EU
    accession treaty on April 16 and to join the bloc in May 2004.


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