New Turkish-Cypriot president pro-unity

NICOSIA - Pro-reunification leader Mehmet Ali Talat was elected president of the breakaway Turkish Cypriot enclave on Sunday and urged Greek Cypriots to join him in finding a way to peace.

Talat, who succeeds veteran nationalist Rauf Denktash as the head of the self-declared Turkish Cypriot state in the north of the island, also appealed to the European Union and United Nations to put fresh impetus into reunification efforts.

"I want to give my hand to the Greek Cypriot people and the Greek Cypriot leadership for peace, to find a solution to our problem and reunify our island," Talat told reporters after winning nearly 56 per cent of the vote -- enough to clinch outright victory without a second round.

His closest rival, Dervis Eroglu, polled just 23 per cent of the votes in the ballot to succeed Denktash, who is retiring after more than 30 years at the helm.

Turkey, the only country to recognise the north as an independent state, has a major stake in the outcome as Ankara fears lack of progress on peace moves could hamper its own bid to start European Union entry talks in October.

Diplomats say fresh peace initiatives are likely to stir now that the Turkish Cypriot election is out of the way, although Greek Cypriot reluctance gives Talat little immediate leverage.

"We hope that a leadership will emerge which will show sincere will for a resumption of talks for reunification," Greek Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos told reporters earlier.

Talat said he was ready to meet Papadopoulos, a bitter opponent of a UN plan for a united, federal Cyprus that Talat strongly supported in an island-wide referendum 12 months ago.

Turkish Cypriot voters gave a two-thirds 'yes' to the blueprint for reunification. The plan was scuppered by the Greek Cypriots, who voted overwhelmingly against it, but diplomats say it remains the only realistic basis for further negotiations.

The Greek Cypriot government joined the EU last May in the name of the whole island, while the Turkish Cypriots remain isolated by international sanctions. Many analysts say Papadopoulos is holding out in the hope of forcing more Turkish concessions as Ankara's date with the EU draws nearer.

Talat said the Greek Cypriots should list their proposed changes to the UN plan with a view to fresh talks.

But he also appealed to the rest of the world to lift the U.N.-backed sanctions on the north, and urged UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to try to encourage the Greek Cypriots back to the negotiating table.

"I ask for a firm expression of help," he said. "The international community has to understand what steps are needed for a resumption of negotiations. The shortest route is to lift the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots."

He said the election result, on a 69 per cent turnout, reflected Turkish Cypriots' desire for peace after three decades of ethnic division. The island was effectively partitioned in 1974 when Turkey invaded in response to a Greek Cypriot coup engineered by Athens.

"They want to reunify Cyprus and they declared this very clearly to the international community," he said.

- REUTERS