Nearly 50,000 people spilled on to the streets of Nicosia yesterday in the biggest demonstration in Turkish Cypriot history. The demonstrators demanded Rauf Denktash, the Turkish Cypriot leader, support a UN-sponsored peace plan to unite the divided island.

The protest, the second in less than a month, was a severe embarrassment for Mr Denktash, who is recovering from heart surgery. He is strongly opposed to the UN plan, but his hard-line policies have eroded his support not only in Cyprus but also on the Turkish mainland.

Conspicuously missing from the rally in the Turkish quarter of Nicosia were Turkish flags. Their absence indicates a desire from most Turkish Cypriots to cut loose from Turkey and throw in their lot with the Greek Cypriots as a united member of the European Union.

The self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is recognised only by Turkey and is in economic ruins. "This was a referendum," said Erdil Nami, a prominent Turkish Cypriot businessman who took part in the rally. "Everyone must take note of it, including Turkey."

"All segments of society were there," said Emin Cizenel, a famous painter. "There were people from all parties. This showed that peace in Cyprus cannot be prevented." A recent opinion poll indicates that about 65 per cent of the island's Turkish population is in favour of the UN plan.

The demonstration came on the eve of the resumption of peace talks between the leaders of the Turkish and Greek communities, which have lived in two separate zones since Turkish troops landed on the island in 1974.

President Glafcos Clerides and Mr Denktash are scheduled to meet in Nicosia today in the presence of Alvaro de Soto, the UN special negotiator.

Cyprus is one of 10 countries which are scheduled to join the EU in January 2004. The UN has given the two sides until February 28 to reach a framework agreement, which would allow Cyprus to sign an accession treaty with the EU as a united island in February 28.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, leader of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development party, has said he favours a settlement in Cyprus and has hinted that Mr Denktash should either try to solve the problem or quit. But Mr Denktash still enjoys the support of the Turkish army, which has a veto on sensitive issues and seems not to share Mr Erdogan's views on Cyprus.

Chanting "we can't wait another 40 years", and waving olive branches and EU flags, the demonstrators crammed the central square of the island's divided capital, in a show of people power that appeared to have the blessing of the Turkish government in Ankara. The turnout totalled more than a quarter of the Turkish enclave's population.

Hundreds of riot police reinforced the "green line" that partitions the island, to prevent the protesters breaking through barricades manned by British UN troops.

The island has been divided between Turks in the north and Greeks in the south since Turkey invaded 28 years ago in response to a coup aimed at uniting the island with Greece.

Under the UN plan, which the secretary general, Kofi Annan, says must be signed by February 28, the two communities would be reunited in a federation of two autonomous states with a weak central government and a single currency.

Cyprus, one of 10 new countries invited to join the EU last month, will sign the treaty of accession in Athens in April, and Brussels is keen that it does so reunited.

The huge turnout for the rally underlined the Turkish Cypriots' growing impatience with the 78-year-old Mr Denktash's refusal to accept the UN proposals, and fears that with just six weeks to go, the deadline will be missed.

Shops and schools shut so that Turkish Cypriots could attend the rally. It followed a similar protest on Boxing Day which drew around 30,000.

Opinion polls in the north show that the vast majority of Turkish Cypriots are eager for a settlement, seeing EU membership as a passport to the outside world. In the 20 years since the self-styled Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus proclaimed independence, the pariah state has been recognised by only Ankara.

Turkey's fragile economy and the relentless trade blockades against the north have gradually brought the territory, which depends solely on Ankara for financial support, to its knees. Most Turkish Cypriots are unemployed.

Indicative of the growing anger towards Mr Denktash were the calls for his resignation yesterday. Many banners said "we no longer want to be prisoners", and "if you don't have a pen, we have one".

In a clear challenge to Turkey's military establishment, which views Cyprus as strategically vital and maintains more than 30,000 troops in the north, the bolder protesters carried signs denouncing "the army of occupation".

"If the vast majority of the people can gather, it is obvious Denktash no longer has the support of the Cypriot people," said Ahmet Barcin, who heads the Union of Secondary School Teachers. "The only way out is for him to resign or retire."

Mr Barcin's car was the target of a bomb attack only hours before the rally.

But Mr Denktash, who has represented the Turkish Cypriots since intercommunal strife first racked the island in the early 1960s, last night ruled out a settlement being reached by February 28.

The UN plan was unacceptable, he said, because it would mean returning large tracts of territory to the Greek Cypriots and allowing up to 90,000 refugees - almost half those who fled the north in 1974 - to to reclaim their homes.

"I am very sorry to say there's not much of a chance if we are not given more time. With all the goodwill on earth the handicaps of this plan cannot be done away with in this short a time," he claimed.

Earlier he had said: "If the Annan plan is implemented as it is, there will be no Turkish Cypriot left on the island within five to 10 years."

Although EU diplomats immediately accused him of employing more stalling tactics, Mr Denktash said he would submit an eight-page document outlining his objections to the UN plan when he resumes talks with the Cypriot president, Glafcos Clerides, in Nicosia today.

But Mr Denktash is also up against international diplomacy. The new government in Ankara has made clear that it is willing to revise Turkey's hardline policy on Cyprus to facilitate its own bid to join the EU.

If a settlement cannot be reached and only the Greek Cypriots accede to the union, Turkey will find itself in the uncomfortable position of being seen to occupy a part of the EU.

IN THE biggest demonstration so far in the Turkish-controlled part of Cyprus, more than 50,000 people packed a square in Nicosia yesterday to support a United Nations plan that would reunite Cyprus and win them a cherished place in Europe.

Demonstrators, who were waving European Union flags and olive branches, called for the resignation of Rauf Denktas, the hardline Turkish Cypriot leader, who is highly critical of the UN’s proposals.

"We can’t wait another 40 years," slogans on banners read. "Make peace Denktas, enough is enough." "Peace in Cyprus cannot be prevented," the crowd chanted. The mood was akin to a popular uprising as between 50,000 and 70,000 people, or a quarter of the population of the self-declared Turkish Cypriot state, turned out in northern Nicosia, the divided capital.

"For years we have seen war. We want our future to be peaceful," Civan Ozkilic, a 38-year-old printer, said.

Police with plastic riot shields lined the dividing line in the city to prevent people from trying to cross to the Greek side. Two students were arrested briefly when they unfurled a banner denouncing the Turkish Army, which has 35,000 troops in northern Cyprus, as "an army of occupation", but otherwise the demonstration was peaceful.

Mr Denktas, 78, was once widely respected by Turkish Cypriots as the leader who had guided them through turbulent times to the security of a separate but unrecognised state. In recent years, however, the younger generation in particular has complained that he is leading them nowhere.

UN-sponsored negotiations for a reunification plan between Mr Denktas and President Clerides, who heads the Greek Cypriot part of the island, resume today.

Unless a deal is reached by the UN deadline of February 28, Turkish Cypriots fear that they will miss the chance to join the EU next year. Mr Denktas was unmoved by the demonstration and said yesterday that was little hope of reaching a settlement by the deadline.

Cyprus, represented internationally by the Greek Cypriots, is one of ten countries due to sign the EU accession treaty in April. Years of international isolation have left the Turkish Cypriots impoverished, with a per capita income less than a third of that of their Greek Cypriot neighbours. Thousands have emigrated over the past two years.

The UN plan would reunify the island under a loose common government after nearly 30 years of partition. The two communities would continue to enjoy virtual autonomy.

Mr Denktas opposes key provisions in the plan, but opinion polls suggest that a majority of Turkish Cypriots support it.

There have been increasingly frequent street protests since Mr Denktas failed to approve the outline of the UN plan in time for last month’s EU summit on enlargement, at which the Greek Cypriots were invited to join the bloc.

For the first time, Mr Denktas is also facing pressure from Ankara. Tayyip Recep Erdogan, the Turkish leader, who regards the Cyprus problem as an obstacle to his country’s own EU aspirations, has urged him to show flexibility.

But Mr Denktas is not expected to bend easily. The Turkish Cypriot leader also appears to have the support of the Turkish military.

"The military is saying Cyprus is a strategic imperative for Turkey and it has chosen the issue to show Erdogan who is the real boss in Ankara," James Ker- Lindsay, a political analyst in Nicosia, said.

An island divided

Population: 760,000; 85 per cent Greek, 12 per cent Turkish, 3 per cent other

Independence: from UK in 1960 after guerrilla war against British rule by the National Organisation of Cypriot Combatants, which wanted unification of the island with Greece. A provision of independence was a system of power-sharing between Turks and Greeks

Conflict: in 1974 a coup, backed by Greece’s military junta, aimed to unify the island with Greece. Turkey responded by invading the island and occupying the northern third. Most Greeks fled from the north; 1,500 "disappeared"

Cyprus is now divided by a UN buffer zone. Talks to end the separation have failed on six occasions.

Britain has two sovereign bases on the island — at Akrotiri and Dhekelia

15 January 2003 INDEPENDENT

More than a quarter of the population of northern Cyprus – 50,000 to 70,000 people – took to the streets of divided Nicosia yesterday in support of a United Nations plan to reunite the Mediterranean island, pressur-ing the hardline Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktash, to back the deal.

The massive show of support gave a substantial boost to the prospects for reunifying Greek and Turkish Cyprus, partitioned when Turkish troops invaded in 1974. Mr Denktash is the main obstacle to progress on the UN plan.

Such a historic deal would not only reunite Cyprus but bring the entire island into the European Union next year. Last month, European heads of government agreed to admit Cyprus to the EU in May 2004, but the northern part of the island, which is recognised only by Turkey, will be excluded unless a peace deal is signed.

On the streets of Nicosia yesterday there was barely a sign of the flag of the self-styled Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Instead, olive branches and the blue-and-gold EU emblem dominated as protesters chanted: "Denktash resign." They held banners with slogans such as: "We can't wait another 40 years".

The UN has outlined its vision for a reunited Cyprus, based on a Swiss-style federal system with a weak central government headed by a rotating presidency designed to balance power between the communities. It also calls for reduction of the Turkish-controlled area, repatriation of 40,000 Turkish troops stationed there and a return of Greek-Cypriot refugees.

Yesterday, the UN mediator Alvaro de Soto resumed talks on the peace plan with President Glafkos Clerides, head of the internationally recognised Greek-Cypriot government, and Mr Denktash. They are expected to meet today and have been asked to agree to the deal by the end of February.

During yesterday's demonstration, protesters massed in front of the official residence of Mr Denktash, who accused them of weakening his negotiating position. But he is also under pressure from his backers in Ankara, after the change of government there last year.

This month, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, leader of the new ruling party in Turkey, criticised Mr Denktash for dragging his feet. The Turkish-Cypriot leader had taken Ankara's support for granted and his breakaway republic is economically dependent on Turkey. Although the Turkish military has reservations on the UN plan, Mr Erdogan has distanced himself from the generals and softened the rhetoric.

Before the elections, the government in Ankara had threatened to annex northern Cyprus if the Greek-controlled part was admitted to the EU alone. That threat has disappeared. One EU diplomat said: "Erdogan's allies are not in the military establishment. He knows Turkey cannot annex northern Cyprus, that we have to find a solution and the UN is the only viable forum. For their part, the military know they have to accept Erdogan."

EU diplomats believe prospects of a settlement are better than at any time since 1974. But the authorities in Brussels know if they do not get a deal they face the highly uncomfortable prospect of admitting only half a country, and one with a disputed border.

They are also concerned at the prospect of imminent elections in Greek-controlled Cyprus, where Mr Clerides faces a challenge from one of his advisers. That raises the possibility that the vote could be split, allowing in an administration that is less positive about the settlement. Even if Mr Clerides wins, the election campaign is likely to polarise positions and make it more difficult to strike a deal by the end of next month.

But diplomats in Brussels remain optimistic that an agreement can be struck, allowing a reunited Cyprus to be admitted to the EU next year, perhaps with the north being allowed a period of time to implement European laws and standards. "There is no question that it is possible for us to reach a settlement in time for May 2004," one said yesterday