UN special envoy Alvaro de Soto said yesterday he hoped both Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders attend meetings in January aimed at reuniting the war-divided island.

De Soto met with Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou in Athens as part of a regional tour that includes stops in Turkey and Cyprus.

"The (UN) Secretary-General hopes both sides will come," de Soto said. "I am sure they will both respond."

Talks between the two communities have not made headway after five rounds of UN-sponsored talks. Turkish-Cypriots have decided to boycott further sessions.

No point
Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash said last week in Ankara, there is no point in attending talks "until the existence of our state is accepted." Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said he supported Denktash's decision.

Papandreou also discussed Cyprus in an earlier meeting with Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Faruk Logoglu, whose is visiting European capitals to argue Turkey's case ahead of a December 4 European Union meeting that will discuss Turkey's candidacy.

Turkey wants the EU to drop Greek prerequisites for EU membership such as a solution to Cyprus and settlement of territorial disputes and other issues with Greece.

"It was a useful meeting and we found understanding. We will see the results," Logoglu said.

Alvaro de Soto, who is due on the island on Sunday, will spend two days trying to ensure the sixth round of proximity talks in Geneva goes ahead as scheduled without any hitch. He will see Clerides and Denktash on Monday and will give a press conference at the Ledra Palace on Tuesday afternoon before his departure.

Reports suggest the sixth round will begin on January 26.

The UN says it has received no notice from Rauf Denktash that he will not go.

The Turkish Cypriot leader has been threatening to pull out of the talks, claiming these preparatory encounters have "ended" and that any discussions from now on should be "state-to-state" talks.

Denktash's new negative stand brought strong reaction from Athens and Nicosia, while Brussels, London and Washington urged him to attend the talks as planned.

The Cyprus government claimed that the Turkish stand amounted to a blackmail attempt and urged the UN and the EU not to yield to it.

The Greek Cypriot side is guardedly watching developments. Both the Government Spokesman and the Foreign Minister stressed that Pre-sident Clerides was positive in principle to the new round, but would wait to see the UN Secretary-General's report to the Security Council and finally the Council's resolution on Unficyp before making a final decision.

Kofi Annan's report is due on Monday, and according to Disy leader Nicos Anastassiades, who yesterday saw British High Commissioner Edward Clay, the Secretary-General will stick to the "accepted parameters" for a Cyprus settlement. But Foreign Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides expressed fears that the Security Council, when renewing Unficyp's mandate later this month, might seek to insert an "addendum" incorporating Turkey's positions.

Eyeglasses
"We may face similar problems to the ones we had last June," he said.

Asked about Denktash's negative stand on the talks, President Clerides himself said this week that it was not his concern.

"It's his problem," he remarked.

According to Council re-solution 1250, of June 1999, the leaders of the two sides must hold a "comprehensive negotiation," committing themselves to the following principles: no preconditions, all issues on the table, negotiate until a settlement is reached, giving "full consideration" to relevant UN resolutions and treaties.

"Apparently Mr Denktash does not wish to take into full consideration the UN resolutions," Clerides said.

Denktash made his shock announcement after meeting top Turkish political and military leaders in Ankara, saying the UN-brokered talks were a "waste of time" unless Turkish-held northern Cyprus was recognised as a legitimate state.

He said: "The European Parliament began to adopt re-solutions to the effect that the occupation should end and that Turkish troops should withdraw from the island. Let everyone change their eyeglasses, because they are no longer able to see the realities".

He called on those parties engaged in the Cyprus peace process to "accept the existence of the TRNC. Recognition is another issue...At this stage we are not even demanding that we be recognised. We are saying that our existence should be accepted. It should be acknowledged that the Greek Cypriot side is not our government."

Ecevit noted that the five rounds of proximity talks had not produced any result and added: "We support the decision of the honourable Denktash to withdraw from the talks".

He also claimed that "the more the EU take an interest in the Cyprus issue the fewer the chances to achieve a solution".

The European Union has urged Turkey to "strongly support" UN efforts to reunite the island and the issue is expected to feature strongly in EU meetings this month.

Turkey , now a candidate country, objects to the link between Cyprus and the candidacy process.

Government Spokesman Michalis Papapetrou remarked: "Mr Denktash's obvious aim is to blackmail developments, neutralise the UN Secretary-General's statemenet of November 8 in Geneva, and to prejudice the consultations of the European countries regarding the text of the Turkey-EU accession partnership agreement.

He called on the UN, the EU and the intrernational community as a whole not to give in to this blackmail "because dangerous precedents will be created to the effect that the Security Council resolutions, the principles of international law and the acquis communautaure are susceptible to blackmail".

The spokesman said if Denktash carried out his threats, he would be assuming full political responsoibility and the UN and the EU should lay the whole blame on him.

The spokesman also denounced Ankara's stand saying "Instead of guiding Mr Denktash to a compromise, they are pushing him to exteme positions which destroy the peace process. Ankara once again proves that far from helping UN efforts for a solution to t he Cyprus problem, it torpedoes these efforts".

In Athens, Government Spokesman Dimitris Reppas spoke in a similar vein.

"The United Nations and the international commuity as a whole, must note this negative stance, place responsibility and make Mr Denktash and Turkey account for his stance", he said.

"With this statemnent, Denktash and Turkey show they are not interested in promoting the process for resolving the Cyprus issue", he added."