Bush writes to Greek, Turkish leaders on Cyprus

"We have a window of opportunity to reach agreement before Cyprus joins the European Union on May 1, which would be in the strategic interests of both Turkey and the United States," Bush wrote to Erdogan.

"All parties should return to the negotiating table immediately and resume discussion in good faith on the basis of Secretary-General (Kofi) Annan’s Cyprus settlement plan," he said.

Bush noted that Annan would only resume mediation if all parties "express the political will to finalize the plan and put it to referenda."

"I urge you to follow this approach, which the (U.N.) Security Council has unanimously endorsed," he said.

Turkey’s ambassador to Washington, Osman Faruk Logoglu, told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday that his government hoped to agree soon on proposals making "limited but important"changes to the U.N. plan.

The letters to the Greek and Cypriot leaders expressed similar sentiments to the one sent to Turkey.

Bush, in his letter to Simitis, said Greece should encourage Papadopoulos to return to the negotiating table immediately and noted that the Cypriot leader had said he woulddo so. "Now is the time for action," Bush wrote.

To Papadopoulos, Bush said that his leadership would be"essential to reaching a comprehensive, lasting agreement" inpursuit of an "historic settlement."