Annan joins Cyprus peace talks

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in a secluded Alpine resort yesterday to start a final push for an elusive Cyprus peace deal by negotiating directly with Greek and Turkish leaders.

Weeks of talks between Greek and Turkish Cypriots have made little progress on a UN peace blueprint, leaving the chances of a united island joining the European Union on May 1 hanging by a thread.

Thwarted at the last minute in past efforts to end the bitter divide on the Mediterranean island, Annan still believes it is worth diverting his attention from higher profile crises in Iraq and elsewhere to resolve a dispute going back decades.

On the eve of Annan's arrival in Buergenstock, Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan said he was encouraged about peace hopes after meeting Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis at a European Union summit this week.

"I have met with Karamanlis in Brussels. I saw that he also has the same goodwill approach," Erdogan told reporters on his return to Turkey on Friday.

Karamanlis will join the talks on the shores of Lake Lucerne today and Erdogan tomorrow. Negotiations are to go on until Wednesday at least.

The stakes are high for all concerned. Without a deal, only the internationally recognised Greek Cypriot government will join the EU on May 1, representing the whole island. This could cement the island's partition and harm Turkey's own EU hopes.

A final text of a peace accord is likely to be presented to the parties before the Buergenstock talks are wrapped up, with Annan possessing a mandate to fill in any disputed gaps in the UN blueprint if the sides fail to agree. The plan will then go to a referendum on both sides of Cyprus on April 20.

The United States, the EU and former colonial power Britain are piling on the pressure for a reunification deal for Cyprus, split since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded the north after a Greek Cypriot coup backed by Greece.

A key problem in the talks, which began on February 19, is the nature of exemptions from EU rules on freedom of movement sought by Turkish Cypriots, who fear being swamped by their richer and more populous neighbours.

A Turkish diplomat said Ankara required iron-clad mechanisms that the plan could withstand judicial challenge. "Legal protection is still the main obstacle before the referendum," he said.

Greek Cypriots say there can be no "permanent" exemptions to EU law that would hinder forever the rights of Greek Cypriots, such as being able to buy property.