Turkish-Cypriots voted by 65 percent to 35 in favor of reunification, in contrast to the majority Greek-Cypriot community on the island, who voted three-to-one against.

The self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)– recognized only by Turkey – has been under an economic embargo for the past 30 years. The TRNC was proclaimed in 1983, nine years after Cyprus was partitioned along ethnic lines following a Greek-Cypriot coup in 1974, aimed at uniting the island with Greece. Turkey responded by invading and occupying the north.

“It is the victory of the people,” trumpeted the daily Kibrisli on Sunday, while the Vatan newspaper said: “It is now the turn of the international community” to help.

“Many people voted ‘yes’ not because they liked the plan, but out of frustration with the international isolation,” Turkish-Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash said following the vote.

Denktash, a hardline nationalist who led the campaign for a ‘no’ vote, immediately called for the lifting of the embargo imposed because of his territory’s secession.

“We abided by our commitments. It is now the turn of the international community to prepare proposals... to alleviate or remove the isolation of the Turkish-Cypriots,” said Mehmet Ali Talat, the breakaway state’s pro-settlement prime minister.

Speaking in Ankara, Turkish foreign minister Abdullah Gul, whose government forced Denktash to agree to the referendum in a bid to boost its own chances of joining the European bloc, also called for the lifting of sanctions.

“The embargoes... cannot continue,” he said.

The EU’s executive arm said Turkish-Cypriot approval of the plan “signals a clear desire of the community to resolve the island’s problems.

“The commission is ready to consider ways of further promoting economic development of the northern part of Cyprus,” it said.

But any EU move in favor of northern Cyprus might have to be taken fast, as the Republic of Cyprus could veto any such help after it joins the club on May 1.

The United States expressed disappointment at the Greek-Cypriot vote and praised the “courage” of Turkish-Cypriots.

The state department has said in the past that Washington “would not leave the Turkish-Cypriots out in the cold.”

Analysts expect some sanctions to be lifted against the north, including allowing direct international air and sea links, a move that would facilitate exports and ease constraints on tourism – the island’s top revenue-earner.

Turkey, the only country to recognize the TRNC, has indicated it might also campaign for international recognition of the 200,000-strong statelet.

But some Turkish-Cypriots in the north coast resort of Kyrenia doubted whether their ‘yes’ vote would be enough to release them from global isolation.

“I voted ‘yes’ but nothing will change,” said Beyhan Kazin, a 52-year-old glazier who was born in the southern port city of Limassol and resettled in the Turkish-protected north after Ankara’s 1974 invasion.

“Perhaps now the international community will help us a bit but I don’t think it will lift the embargo.”

ANKARA – The Turkish press reacted strongly to the referendum result, saying a division so deplored for 30 years now appeared permanent.

“Greek-Cypriots have made official the partition of Cyprus by voting no to a solution,” wrote the liberal daily Milliyet on Sunday. Vatan noted that Nicosia was now the only divided capital in Europe. It was, it said, “Europe’s new Berlin Wall.”

The mass-circulation Hurriyet urged an early end to an international political and economic boycott of the Turkish-Cypriot republic, saying the referendum outcome represented the best possible result for Turkish-Cypriots. “Now nobody can ignore them,” it said in an editorial. AFP