Peacemakers lose hope for quick end to Cyprus divide

NICOSIA, Mar 7 (Reuters) After decades of braving insults, harassment and even violence in their efforts to bring rival communities in Cyprus together, peace activists on the divided Mediterranean island finally admit they are demoralised.

The failure of a peace plan in a 2004 referendum has left relations between Greek and Turkish Cypriots at an all-time low, and international efforts to revive reunification talks seem futile, they say.

''We have been through some really hard times but this is the worst it has ever been,'' said Greek Cypriot peace activist Nikos Anastasiou. ''The majority of the people involved in these efforts are demoralised.'' Divided along ethnic lines since Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974 in response to a Greek Cypriot coup engineered by the military junta then ruling Greece, the island has stymied repeated United Nations reunification efforts.

Last week, the UN mission to Cyprus said it was ready to facilitate technical talks between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, which would be the first official contacts since the referendum.

But diplomats and analysts said the talks would most likely avoid the core problems, focusing instead on procedural issues.

They rued as a missed chance the reunification plan laid out by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, which Greek Cypriots rejected in the referendum two years ago.

''The momentum was there for the Annan plan. I don't think we will have the same momentum again,'' said Mete Hatay, a researcher for the International Peace Research Institute in Oslo.

The peace brokers remember the days when getting a few Greek and Turkish Cypriots to meet across the barbed-wire Green Line splitting the island was a miracle.

They had believed things would get easier after checkpoints were opened for day trips in 2003. But although thousands cross each day to visit or shop, the referendum outcome has pushed the communities further apart.

MORE REUTERS SI PM0847