Turkey's EU bid in doubt after Cyprus talks collapse

Turkey was warned yesterday that its bid for EU membership was in fresh doubt after Rauf Denktash, the Turkish Cypriot leader, was blamed for the failure of a United Nations push to reunite Cyprus.

Marathon talks on the future of the divided island broke up without agreement yesterday, guaranteeing only the Greek part of the island will enter the EU next May.

Despite widespread public support for the deal in northern Cyprus, Mr Denktash rejected the plan, claiming it would mean the uprooting of thousands of people. Some EU diplomats blamed Mr Denktash explicitly for the failure, and the European Commission said it would be very difficult for the EU to start membership negotiations with Turkey.

The Commission points out that Ankara does not recognise Greek-controlled Cyprus, which will be a full member of the EU next year. Under such circumstances, the EU will find it extremely hard to open membership talks with Turkey, something it will consider in December 2004.

A Commission spokesman said: "If, by the time of the report at the end of 2004, there is still no settlement on Cyprus, we will be facing this weird situation where a candidate country knocking at the door does not recognise one of our own member states. It appears difficult in this situation to envisage the start of accession negotiations with Turkey."

The UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, had been hoping to clinch an agreement to put his reconciliation plan to a referendum in both parts of the island on 30 March. That would have allowed Cyprus to sign up for EU membership as one entity when it signs an accession treaty on 16 April. Without an accord, Greek-controlled Cyprus will join the EU alone.

After 20 hours of talks, Mr Annan said the UN reconciliation process had "reached the end of the road". He said: "I'm not sure another opportunity like this will present itself again any time soon."

Lord Hannay of Chiswick, Britain's special envoy to Cyprus, said he was sad about the outcome. "I do not think Mr Denktash left [Mr Annan] any alternative," he said. A British official added: "It is clear the blame lies with Denktash."

Although Mr Annan said his ideas remained on the table, Alvaro de Soto, his special envoy to Cyprus, plans to close his office in Nicosia.

Diplomats believe their efforts, which relied on Mr Denktash coming under heavy pressure from Ankara, were dealt a fatal blow by the Iraq crisis. With the Turkish parliament in revolt over US requests to use the country as a launchpad for an invasion of Iraq, the Turkish prime minister in waiting, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was unable to fight two battles at once.

After distancing himself from Mr Denktash, Mr Erdogan changed tack and backed him. Meanwhile the Greek Cypriot President, Tassos Papadopoulos, who also had concerns about the UN plan, was under little pressure to be flexible because he knew his part of the island would accede to the EU without a deal. With Mr Denktash refusing to budge, Mr Papadopoulos was never even put on the spot.

The next likely opportunity for movement will be in the run-up to a meeting of EU leaders in December 2004 when they consider whether to start talks with the Turks. But at that point, the Greek Cypriot side will have little incentive to make concessions. "We have just missed an opportunity which will be difficult to recreate," one official said.

Mr Denktash described the Annan plan as "not acceptable" saying it envisaged "the removal of 100,000 Turkish Cypriots from their place of habitation", a claim disputed by the Greek side. Mr Denktash said it was "not a plan we could ask the people to vote on".