Annan may consider Cyprus delay

Demonstrations have taken place for and against the plan

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has said that he might consider delaying a referendum on the future of Cyprus if all sides request it.

No such request has been made although there have been calls to reject the UN plan, Mr Annan noted.

Turkish and Greek Cypriots are due to vote on a UN plan to end the 30-year division of the island on 24 April.

Thousands of Turkish Cypriots have joined a demonstration in northern Nicosia to support a Yes vote.

If the Greek and Turkish Cypriots... were to ask for a postponement, that is something we will have to reflect on Kofi Annan UN secretary general

Opinion polls suggest Turkish Cypriots will vote Yes but Greek Cypriots will reject the settlement.

Chanting crowds waving olive branches and the flag of a united Cyprus called on their Greek Cypriot neighbours to back the UN plan at Wednesday's demonstration.

Public workers held a half-day strike to join the demonstration in a central square in the northern sector of the divided city.

Trade union leader Ali Gulle told demonstrators: "The way to peace in our country goes through a double Yes. The dove of peace cannot fly with a single wing.

"We call on all Cypriots, both in the north and the south, to do everything for a Yes in the referendum."

Reports say demonstrators also called on Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash to resign as president of their self-styled republic for opposing the UN plan.

Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat, however, crossed the border to the south to press for a Yes vote on Tuesday.

Protest resignation

Turkey itself has backed the plan and said it would be against a postponement of the l referendum.

Its support is seen by analysts to be partly because it wants to boost its own chances of EU membership.

On the Greek Cypriot side, the largest political grouping, the communist party Akel, has called for a delay in the vote, warning that it might otherwise reverse its support for the plan.

Greek Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos has also rejected the plan.

Key issues of concern include the right of return for Greek Cypriots who fled the north after the Turkish invasion and the level of Turkish troops allowed to stay after reunification.

EU prize

Mr Talat's visit to the south of the divided island was the first such visit to the Republic by a Turkish Cypriot prime minister since the island was partitioned.

If either community votes No on 24 April, then the whole of Cyprus will still technically join the EU on 1 May, but membership will in effect apply only in the Greek sector.

That would leave the already-poorer Turkish Cypriots without the benefits of membership.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded in response to a short-lived Greek Cypriot coup.