NICOSIA, Feb 18 (AFP) - Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat said Friday that a victory for his party in Sunday's early general elections could help revive stalled peace talks to reunify the island and ease Turkey's entry into the European Union.
"In these elections, the Turkish Cypriots will once again confirm their desire for a settlement and that their drive for a solution is now an unchanging policy," Talat, whose centre-left Republican Turkish Party (CTP) is tipped to win the polls, told AFP at his office in Nicosia.
Such a victory will bring about an international atmosphere ripe for fresh initiatatives to jump start negotiations between the island's rival communities, Talat said.
"That will help not only the Turkish Cypriots but also Turkey's bid to join the European Union," he added.
International efforts to end the 30-year division of Cyprus have largely been on hold since April when Greek Cypriots overwhelmingly voted down a last-ditch UN settlement plan which the Turkish Cypriots rallied behind.
The outcome meant that only the internationally recognized Greek south of the island joined the European Union on May 1, while the breakaway Turkish Cypriots were left out in the cold.
In December, Turkey also obtained the green light to start accession talks with pan-European bloc, but on a set of tough conditions including a recognition of Greek Cyprus.
Turkey, which occupied the northern third of the island in 1974 in response to a Greek Cypriot coup, refuses to acknowledge the Greek Cypriot administration until a comprehensive solution is reached on the island and sees a settlement as the only way out of its tricky situation.
Talat said the key to reviving the peace process lay in the international community putting pressure on the Greek Cypriots to return to the negotiating table.
"The ball is in the court of the Greek Cypriots, but it is the United Nations, the European Union and the international community which has the influence to drive them back into the game," Talat said.
The Turkish Cypriot leader suggested that easing international sanctions on the tiny self-styled Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus would persuade the Greek Cypriots to agree to renewed negotiations.
"Lifting the isolations could force Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopoulos to change his attitude. It is obvious that only such a move will make a serious contribution to the settlement of the conflict," Talat said.
Since the referendum, the EU, the United Nations and the United States have sought measures to break the Turkish Cypriots' isolation as a reward for the support they gave to the bungled peace initiative.
But they have been slow in coming. The EU has so far been unable to push Cyprus, which joined the bloc in May, to give the green light to pledges of financial aid and ease trade sanctions on the Turkish Cypriot state.
"The EU is keen to ease the restrictions on us, but they are facing legal obstacles. What needs to be done is to try all options to break the negative attitude of the Greek Cypriots," Talat said.
"If their attitude cannot be broken, then the Greek Cypriots will be isolated," he added.
Talat rode to power in the last elections in December 2003 after advocating the failed UN plan, but saw his two party-coalition lose it slender parliamentary majority shortly after the referendum.
Sunday's early polls are expected to give CTP first place, but not enough votes to come into power alone, forcing it to stitch together yet another coalition.
02/18/2005 18:29 GMT - AFP