Some 30,000 Turkish Cypriots hold pro-EU rally

The Associated PressNICOSIA, Cyprus -- Waving flags and olive branches, some 30,000 Turkish Cypriots marched through the capital Thursday to support reunification of divided Cyprus -- a requirement for their joining the European Union.

The demonstration, the largest pro-EU rally held in the northern Turkish part of Cyprus, comes after Turkish and Greek Cypriots failed to iron out their differences at the European Union summit in Copenhagen earlier this month.

"Peace in Cyprus cannot be prevented," chanted the crowd, which gathered at a main square in the Turkish sector of divided Nicosia before dispersing peacefully.

The demonstrators were demanding the resignation of Rauf Denktash, the leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriot Republic, whom they accuse of blocking an agreement with Greek Cypriots.

"Feb. 28 is our last chance and Denktash is not negotiating," said Mehmet Ali Talat, leader of the opposition Republican Turk Party.

At the Copenhagen summit, the European Union invited Cyprus to join the economic bloc by 2004 and asked both sides to find a solution by Feb. 28. If no agreement is reached by that date, only the Greek part of the island would enter the EU.

Five Turkish Cypriots on Thursday entered a third day of a hunger strike to push for the reunification of the island.

The Turkish side is especially concerned about the return of land to Greek Cypriots envisaged in a United Nations-drafted plan. The plan seeks to unify the divided island into a single country consisting of two component states.

Cyprus has been split into a Greek Cypriot south and a Turkish Cypriot north since Turkey invaded in 1974 after a short-lived coup by supporters of union with Greece. The self-declared breakaway Turkish Cypriot administration is only recognized by Turkey, which maintains some 35,000 troops there.