ATHENS - The recently-elected leader of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus blamed the European Union for failing to end the isolation of the breakaway state.
"We are not happy" with the EU, Mehmet Ali Talat told the Greek daily Eleftherotypia in an interview published on Monday.
"They promised to end the isolation of Turkish Cypriots, but they did nothing tangible."
Talat also faulted the United States, "which went a little bit further than the EU, but still didn't give us what we need, such as direct trade and flights."
The European Union promised the Turkish Cypriots 259 million euros in aid between 2004 and 2006 in compensation for their support of a United Nations-backed reunification plan in April 2004.
But the aid has been blocked by the Greek Cypriot Republic of Cyprus, which joined the European Union as a full member-state in May 2004. The Greek Cypriots overwhelmingly rejected the UN reunification plan.
In Monday's interview Talat also warned that he would close the points of passage between the island's two zones if Greek Cypriots stepped up compensation claims against Turkish Cypriots over property seized during the 1974 invasion.
"If the compensation claims multiply, Turkish Cypriots will be afraid to access the south for fear of arrest, and this will result in the closure of the passage roadblocks," he said.
Talat said that under the TRNC's constitution, all abandoned Greek Cypriot properties belong to the breakaway state.
He argued that the development of seized Greek Cypriot properties, which he placed at 80 percent of private land in the TRNC, was a "matter of survival" for his economy.
Around 200,000 Greek Cypriots fled their homes in the island's northern third in 1974, and tens of thousands of Turkish Cypriots fled in the other direction, leaving large numbers of displaced title-holders on both sides.
"The problem cannot be solved with decrees or in court rooms," Talat said. "Only with a solution (of the Cyprus issue) can it be resolved."
The Greek Cypriot government has stepped up efforts to prosecute people involved in illegally marketing absentee properties, issuing arrest warrants against estate agents alongside the civil actions launched by private individuals.

05/16/2005 13:37 GMT