The prospect of reuniting with rival Greek Cypriots and joining the European Union has polarized voters in the breakaway Turkish statelet of northern Cyprus ahead of key parliamentary elections on Sunday.

Isolated from the international community for three decades, 141,000 voters in the self-styled Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) will cast their votes in polls which could have repercussions for the EU enlargement process and Turkey's own bid to join the pan-European bloc.

"Perhaps for the first time in their history, the decision of the Turkish Cypriots will mean more than their size," said Mustafa Akinci, an opposition leader.

The three opposition parties have pledged to resume talks with the internationally-recognized Greek Cypriot side on a UN plan to end the island's 29-year division in time for its accession to the EU in May next year. The TRNC is recognized only by Turkey.

Capitalizing on exasperation with international isolation and economic hardships, the opposition thinks it is winning and wants to sideline Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, who rejected the UN peace plan in March.

For pro-Denktash parties, which currently hold power, the peace plan, drawn up by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, aims only to destroy the TRNC, force Turkish Cypriots back into their place as a minority under Greek Cypriot dominance and end Turkey's influence on the island.

The opposition, meanwhile, maintains that the reunification scheme, which envisages a federation between Turkish and Greek component states, will ensure their political equality and pave the way towards the EU.

Brussels says Turkish Cypriots will be denied entry to the EU if the island is not reunified by May 2004, when Greek Cypriots are set to join.

Brussels has also warned Ankara that failure to end the deadlock will undermine Turkey's own membership aspirations.

The fierce campaigning has reached such levels that government parties are accusing the opposition of treason, while the opposition counters that ruling forces are only trying to preserve their "sultanate."

Everybody – from newspapers to non-governmental organizations – has taken sides in what appears to be a close race.

Party flags adorn the windows of shops and restaurants and the Annan plan is a topic of conversation in the coffee shops dotting the narrow streets of the divided capital Nicosia.

"Everyone would like to join the EU, but the conditions are not acceptable. The Annan plan would do away with us," said Ahmet Tevfik Yildirim, 76, as he chatted with fellow pensioners in an open-air cafe in Nicosia.

"We can live side by side with Greek Cypriots, but we cannot mingle. This is dangerous," he said.

Like most elderly Turkish Cypriots, Yildirim keeps alive memories of bloody inter-communal violence in the 1960s and 1970s which led to the island's partition when Turkish troops invaded its northern half in 1974.

Fears are fuelled by provisions in the UN plan envisaging a return of territory to the Greek Cypriots and the displacement of thousands of Turkish Cypriots and Turkish colonists.

But for opposition supporters, the prospect of a settlement and joining the EU is worth some concessions.

"We are isolated from the world. It is like living in a prison. I do not see any future here unless there is a settlement," said Sami Solyali, a 51-year-old dentist in Guzelyurt, an area which would be handed over under the Annan plan.

"Dentists in the Greek Cypriot side earn five times more than I do," he noted.AFP