Turkey Rejects UN Resolutions on Cyprus

The Turkish Foreign Ministry in a statement Tuesday said it can not accept a council action that holds only one side responsible for the failure.

The U.N. plan presented by Secretary General Kofi Annan had envisioned the reunification of Cyprus as a single state with Greek and Turkish sections linked by a weak central government. The plan also provided for the return of some Greek Cypriots to homes in areas now controlled by the island’s Turkish community. The Turkish Cypriots called this unbalanced and unjust.

Monday’s resolution blamed what it called Mr. Denktash’s “negative approach,” for denying Greek and Turkish Cypriots the chance to vote in referendums on the U.N. plan.

It also means representatives of the Greek-led Cyprus government will sign the European Union ascension treaty in Athens Wednesday, shutting out the Turkish side from the benefits of EU membership when the island joins the Union next year.

Some diplomats say the failed agreement could also jeopardize Turkey’s own EU membership bid. Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded the island in response to a coup in Nicosia backed by the military government then in power in Greece.