Azerbaijan says to recognise N.Cyprus if vote fails

Only Turkey recognises the self-styled Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC) while the Greek Cypriot government in the south is regarded internationally as the legitimate government of the whole island.

Opinion polls suggest the Greek Cypriots will indeed heed President Tassos Papadopoulos’s advice and vote on April 24 against the U.N. peace plan, which envisages a loose federal Cyprus with broad autonomy for the two ethnic communities.

"If the Turkish (Cypriot) side says yes and the Greek (Cypriot) side says no, we will start the recognition process," Turkey’s state Anatolian news agency quoted Azeri President Ilham Aliyev as saying during a state visit to his neighbour. His comments will dismay the Greek Cypriots because they
could presage similar moves by other countries, especially in Turkic-speaking central Asia and in the wider Muslim world, which could cement Cyprus’s ethnic partition.

Aliyev’s oil-rich former Soviet republic borders Turkey and looks to Ankara as a close ally with which it shares close linguistic and cultural ties. Even if the referendum fails, the Greek Cypriots will still join the European Union on May 1 and will then be considered to represent the whole island of Cyprus within the bloc.

Aliyev’s comments indicate mounting international pressure on the Greek Cypriots to accept the U.N. peace plan.

TURKEY BACKS NORTH

If the referendum fails, Turkey is expected to work hard for an end to the isolation of northern Cyprus, where it keeps at least 30,000 troops.

The United States, Turkey’s NATO ally, has signalled it will move to lift an economic embargo against the Turkish Cypriots if only the Greek Cypriots reject reunification.

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul has said he will press for a lifting of the embargo and then for international recognition of Northern Cyprus if the referendum fails. Washington raised its pressure on the Greek Cypriots on Thursday by pledging $400 million for Cyprus at a preliminary
international donors’ conference in Brussels, but on condition that the peace plan is approved.

The EU also strongly backs the U.N. peace plan and Greek Cypriot leader Papadopoulos can expect a frosty welcome when his part of the island joins on May 1 if the referendum fails.

Papadopoulos made an emotional appeal last week for a no vote. Turkish Cypriots, keen to join the EU and to trade again with the rest of the world, are widely expected to vote yes to the plan, despite opposition from President Rauf Denktash who was due to address the Turkish arliament later on Thursday.