Greece has denounced a decision by the Turkish-Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktash, to withdraw from the next round of negotiations on the future of the divided island of Cyprus.

A Greek government spokesman said that the move to boycott the talks was a provocation.

He said it proved that Mr Denktash and Turkey -- which backed his decision -- were not interested in finding a solution to the Cyprus problem.

Mr Denktash announced on Friday that he was pulling out of the United Nations-sponsored, indirect negotiations, which he said were no more than a waste of time.The talks which began a year ago were to resume in Geneva next January."