Let Cypriots solve Cyprus, Greek Cypriot tells U.N.

Cypriot President Demetris Christofias urged the United Nations on Wednesday not to try to impose a solution on the island, which has been divided between Greek and Turkish Cypriots since 1974.
Numerous U.N.-led efforts to reunite Cyprus have failed, most recently in 2004, when Greek Cypriots rejected a plan prepared under the aegis of previous Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Christofias, the Greek Cypriot leader, and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat started a new round of reunification talks this month.
Speaking to the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, Christofias said Cypriots must be in charge of the process.
"Recent experience has shown that any attempt to impose, even to import, non-Cypriot inspired and improvised models will meet with rejection by the Cypriot people," he said.
Cyprus was divided in a 1974 Turkish invasion triggered by a Greek-inspired coup. The stalemate on Cyprus complicates Turkey's bid to join the European Union, where only the Greek Cypriots represent the island.
The European Commission has partially suspended Turkey's membership talks with the bloc over the stalemate in Cyprus, with a review slated for mid-2009.
Both sides have agreed, on paper, to reuniting Cyprus as a loose federation of two zones, one administered by Greek Cypriots and the other by Turkish Cypriots.
Difficult issues lie ahead, ranging from the rights of settlement of individuals in an area administered by the other community, to the central government power-sharing structure.
Christofias said the so-called "good offices" role of the United Nations was to assist and to support. "It is not arbitration. It is not mediation," he said.
The Annan plan to resolve the Cyprus problem was accepted by Turkish Cypriots in a 2004 referendum. Greek Cypriots, however, rejected it and a week later they joined the EU as the sole legal representative of Cyprus.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul told the General Assembly on Tuesday that Ankara fully supported the new negotiations, but he said isolation of the Turkish Cypriots should end.