Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders urged voters on Wednesday to reject a UN plan to reunify Cyprus before the island joins the EU next month.
Both Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopoulos and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash condemned the UN plan to end a 30-year division of the east Mediterranean island, which will be put to twin referendums on April 24.
"I call on you to reject the [UN Secretary-General Kofi] Annan plan. I call on you to say a strong `no' to defend your rights and your history and your moral values," a tearful Papadopoulos said in a speech.
Greek and Turkish Cypriots will vote on reunification a week before Cyprus joins the EU on May 1. If either side votes `no,' only the internationally recognized Greek Cypriot south will join, deepening the isolation of the minority Turkish Cypriots and harming Turkey's own EU hopes.
Annan presented his plan to the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities last week.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell telephoned the Greek and Turkish foreign ministers on Wednesday to discuss ways of building support for the Annan plan, which Washington says is "fair," a state department spokesman said.
Denktash, 80, made clear he believed the plan would spell an end to his Turkish Cypriot statelet, recognized only by Turkey.
Cyprus has been split on ethnic lines since 1974, when Turkey invaded after a brief Greek Cypriot coup backed by a military junta ruling in Athens. The 1960s saw fierce communal bloodshed that left deep scars.
Denktash fears Turkish Cypriots will be swamped by the majority Greek Cypriots in a reunited Cyprus, despite guarantees in the UN plan allowing broad autonomy for both communities.
In a 50-minute televised speech, Papadopoulos said the UN plan was unworkable and would threaten the security of citizens by disbanding the Greek Cypriot army.
"This plan does not meet even our minimum requirements," the 70-year-old Greek Cypriot said, his voice choked with emotion.
"The risks and dangers of saying `yes' are much, much greater than the risks of saying `no,' and the impact of a `yes' vote would be irreversible," he said, adding efforts to reunite the island would continue even if the referendum failed.
The plan proposes re-linking Cyprus under a loose federation of two largely self-governing states, one Greek Cypriot and the other Turkish Cypriot.
The UN plan would allow Greece and Turkey, the guarantor powers under a 1960 treaty, intervention rights and to keep troops on the island. It would also limit, for a transitional period, unlimited Greek Cypriot settlement in northern Cyprus.
Politicians and voters have shown little support for the 9,000-page UN document which emerged from inconclusive talks last week in Switzerland.
Opinion polls have pointed to an outright rejection by Greek Cypriots and approval by Turkish Cypriots by a thin majority.
Analysts said it was unclear how much clout Papadopoulos would have in swinging the final vote, with his main coalition partner likely to support the UN plan.
‘HYANGDO’: A South Korean lawmaker said there was no credible evidence to support rumors that Kim Jong-un has a son with a disability or who is studying abroad South Korea’s spy agency yesterday said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s daughter, Kim Ju-ae, who last week accompanied him on a high-profile visit to Beijing, is understood to be his recognized successor. The teenager drew global attention when she made her first official overseas trip with her father, as he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Analysts have long seen her as Kim’s likely successor, although some have suggested she has an older brother who is being secretly groomed as the next leader. The South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) “assesses that she [Kim Ju-ae]
In the week before his fatal shooting, right-wing US political activist Charlie Kirk cheered the boom of conservative young men in South Korea and warned about a “globalist menace” in Tokyo on his first speaking tour of Asia. Kirk, 31, who helped amplify US President Donald Trump’s agenda to young voters with often inflammatory rhetoric focused on issues such as gender and immigration, was shot in the neck on Wednesday at a speaking event at a Utah university. In Seoul on Friday last week, he spoke about how he “brought Trump to victory,” while addressing Build Up Korea 2025, a conservative conference
DEADLOCK: Putin has vowed to continue fighting unless Ukraine cedes more land, while talks have been paused with no immediate results expected, the Kremlin said Russia on Friday said that peace talks with Kyiv were on “pause” as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin still wanted to capture the whole of Ukraine. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said that he was running out of patience with Putin, and the NATO alliance said it would bolster its eastern front after Russian drones were shot down in Polish airspace this week. The latest blow to faltering diplomacy came as Russia’s army staged major military drills with its key ally Belarus. Despite Trump forcing the warring sides to hold direct talks and hosting Putin in Alaska, there
North Korea has executed people for watching or distributing foreign television shows, including popular South Korean dramas, as part of an intensifying crackdown on personal freedoms, a UN human rights report said on Friday. Surveillance has grown more pervasive since 2014 with the help of new technologies, while punishments have become harsher — including the introduction of the death penalty for offences such as sharing foreign TV dramas, the report said. The curbs make North Korea the most restrictive country in the world, said the 14-page UN report, which was based on interviews with more than 300 witnesses and victims who had
RSS