U.N. Cyprus talks: One last try
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Papadopoulos (left) and Denktash
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UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- A third day of talks between Turkish and Greek Cypriot delegations aimed at seeking to reunite the divided island of Cyprus have ended without a solution but are set to resume later.
The delegates were awaiting a proposal from U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan Friday that is expected to suggest possible ways of moving the talks forward and what role the European Union might take.
Cyprus has been divided into a Greek Cypriot south and a Turkish-held north since a 1974 Turkish invasion sparked by a short-lived coup by supporters of union with Greece.
Turkey maintains about 40,000 troops in a northern Turkish Cypriot breakaway state, which is only recognized by Ankara.
A peace deal was vital for Turkey's ambitions to join the EU. The Greek Cypriot side of the island will join the 15-nation bloc with or without the a peace agreement in May.
Talks collapsed last March after the Turkish Cypriot side, led by Rauf Denktash, insisted that their state win full recognition, while Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopoulos demanded refuges who left the north about 30 years ago should have the right to return home.
Papadopoulos and Denktash signaled they were unhappy with a power-sharing plan that would involve land exchanges and population movements.
Denktash believed the plan would create refugees and throw many Turkish Cypriots out of their homes on an island where two-thirds of the population are Greek Cypriots.
Greek Cypriots opposed the plan because it committed them to sharing power with a minority and restricted the number of Greek Cypriots who would be able to return to their former homes.
