NICOSIA - Turkish-Cypriot prime minister Mehmet Ali Talat called on the EU Friday to put pressure on the Republic of Cyprus, a member of the European bloc, to resume talks for the reunification of the divided island.
Talat, 53, is the front-runner in Sunday's election to succeed veteran leader Rauf Denktash for the presidency of the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which is recognized only by Turkey.
"A crucial role befalls the international community, and the European Union in particular," in pressing for a resumption of negotiations to reunite the Mediterranean island, which has been divided along ethnic lines for more than three decades, Talat told AFP.
He criticised Tassos Papadopoulos, president of the internationally recognized Greek-Cypriot Republic of Cyprus, for his opposition to a now-moribund peace plan for the island drawn up by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
Papdopoulos' position "is not compatible with European values," because it opposes peace efforts, Talat said.
"The isolation of the Greek part (of Cyprus) in European institutions should push them to take positive steps" to relaunch the talks, Talat said.
Talat, leader of the left-of-center Turkish Republican Party (CTP) is confident that he will be elected president of TRNC in the first round of voting Sunday with more than 60 percent of the vote.
His chief rival in the field of nine candidates, former prime minister Dervis Eroglu of the center-right National Unity Party, is credited with only 28 percent of voting intentions, according to the latest opinion surveys.
Up to 10,000 people gathered in the north of Nicosia, Europe's last divided capital, on Friday, to voice their support for Talat.
Once he is elected president, Talat said, "of course I will launch an appeal" to Papadopoulos to resume talks.
Sunday's election will find a successor to outgoing president Denktash, 81, a staunch nationalist who has decided not to seek a fifth mandate.
Unlike Talat, Denktash, who led the TRNC since its creation in 1983, is a strong opponent of the Annan blueprint.
The plan was effectively killed off when, in an April 2004 referendum, it was rejected by the Greek Cypriots despite massive backing by the island's Turkish community.
The Republic of Cyprus became a member of the EU on May 1.
The president of the TRNC is the highest authority of the island's Turkish community and automatically becomes the chief negotiator at peace talks.
Talat said he believed his election would cause Papadopoulos "great concern" because it would "hamper his delaying tactics" to avoid a resumption of peace talks.
"Papadopoulos today repeats what Denktash used to say -- they have the same intransigent rhetoric," Talat said.
He also said he hopes to solve the thorny Cyprus problem before October 3, when Turkey is scheduled to begin membership talks with the European Union.
"But this does not depend on us alone," Talat said. "Our aim is to solve the problem before that date, but this does not seem possible with the current attitude of the Greek (Cypriot) side."
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded its northern third in response to an ultranationalist coup fomented by the colonels' regime then in power in Athens and aiming to unite the island with Greece.
04/15/2005 19:13 GMT