Cyprus Peace Process Breaks Down

In a personal blow to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and a setback for Turkey’s hopes of joining the European Union, marathon talks between the Turkish and Cypriot sides formally broke down on Tuesday in The Hague.

"Regrettably, these (peace efforts) were not a success. We have reached the end of the road," said Annan, the chief negotiator in the Cyprus peace talks.

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

The talks are reported to have mainly foundered on Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash’s refusal to put the U.N. plan for reunification up to a referendum among the Turkish population.

Greek Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos had made clear that he was in favor of the U.N. blueprint on principle. The failure of the two sides to reach agreement ends the Cyprus peace process, kickstarted in December 1999 in a push to reunite the island.

Greek Cypriot President Papadopoulos (photo) made clear that the Turkish Cypriot leader had not stuck to his side of the bargain. "Denktash is not ready to accept the Annan plan," he said, referring to Annan’s proposal for the two Cypriot communities to hold referendums on March 30 on a peace proposal.

"The plan was unacceptable for us. This was not a plan we would ask our people to vote for," Denktash confirmed.

Annan indicates finality of broken deal

The talks at The Hague were a last-ditch attempt to reunite the Mediterranean island before it joins the European Union next year. Annan had earlier warned that it was "decision time."

"The choice is not between my plan and a radically different one. The real choice is between my plan and no solution at all," he said.

Annan, who had hoped a deal might be reached during his leadership of the United Nations, indicated that he was disappointed with the failure of the talks. "I share tonight with all peace-loving Greek and Turkish Cypriots as well as Greeks and Turks a deep sense of sadness," he said in a statement.

"I’m not sure another opportunity like this will present itself again any time soon.

"The two leaders have expressed their willingness to continue talks, but without a firm commitment to proceed energetically to a conclusion ... it will clearly not be possible to achieve a comprehensive settlement before the accession of Cyprus to the EU on April 16."

Annan said the 18-month-old office set up in Nicosia to support the U.N. peace process would close in the coming months.

Both Greeks and Turks unsatisfied with plan

Neither the Greek nor the Turkish sides had been happy with the U.N. plan, despite several changes to it.

The plan called for the island to be governed as a federation based on the Swiss model, with a presidency rotating between Greek and Turkish Cypriots.

While the Greek Cypriots said not enough refugees would be given the right to return to their former homes in the Turkish north, the Turkish Cypriots believed they were being asked to cede too much land. The Turkish north of the island is recognized only by Ankara, not by the United Nations.

Denktash (photo) told journalists after the failed talks that the threat of losing much of their land as a result of implementing the U.N. plan played an important role for some 100,000 Turkish Cypriots. He also said he was against the time pressure under which the plan was being pushed. "We don’t have anything against the EU, but we do object, when the EU is used as a pressure tactic against us," he said.

At the same time, Denktash has been under growing public pressure to agree to the U.N. plan, with an increasing number of Turkish Cypriots rallying in its favor in the hope that EU membership would boost the region’s economy and improve chances on the labor front.

Collapsed talks hinder Turkey's EU ambitions

Failure to reach a settlement has also cast a cloud over Turkey’s ambitions to join the EU.

Now, without an agreement, EU membership will apply, in effect, only to the southern Greek Cypriot part of the island, and Turkey will be left at odds with the Union. Some 30,000 Turkish troops are stationed in Turkish Cyprus.

"It is difficult to see how it would be possible to start accession negotiations (with Turkey) under such circumstances (of a failure in peace talks)," EU Enlargement Commissioner Günther Verheugen said last week.