Cypriot president sees no piont in talks with Turkish Cypriot leader

"I do not dogmatically oppose a meeting with Mr. Talat," Papadopoulos said in a rare interview with Greece's Eleftheros Typos daily.

Photo: Cypriot president sees no piont in talks with Turkish Cypriot leader

"But the question is: 'For what will we meet and what will we discuss?' ... People will wonder how many peace coffees we can drink, and for how long."

Papadopoulos has been widely blamed for the collapse of the last effort to reunify the island. He has refused to have any contact with the Turkish Cypriot leadership since their community in 2004 voted in favor of a U.N. plan to reunify the island. Greek Cypriots overwhelmingly rejected the peace blueprint at the same time.

Papadopoulos said he did not believe Talat "has the authorization" to discuss sensitive issues such as the withdrawal of Turkish troops and settlers from northern Cyprus, or the return of property seized during the 1974 Turkish invasion.

Cyprus has been divided between a Greek Cypriot south and a Turkish-occupied north since the invasion, which followed an abortive Athens-backed coup by supporters of union with Greece.

Papadopoulos said he had made a personal agreement with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, during a meeting in Paris on Feb. 28, to discuss "technical issues" with the Turkish-Cypriots. But he said that could only happen if key issues are also on the table.

Papadopoulos also accused the U.S. of backing the U.N. peace plan to boost Turkey's aspirations of becoming a European Union member.

"One wonders whether the whole Annan plan ... was not drafted to facilitate Turkey," he said.