The Turkish Cypriot leader, Mr Rauf Denktash, has dealt a blow to hopes of speedy movement on the UN-brokered peace plan for the island.
He said yesterday he was not prepared to sign up for negotiations with the island's Greek majority before today's EU summit in Copenhagen.
The EU wants ethnic Turks and Greeks to agree to a deal to reunite the island before the internationally recognised Greek Cypriot government joins the bloc, probably in 2004.
Signing of a document in time for the Copenhagen summit might have helped Muslim Turkey's chances of winning a firm date to begin its own entry talks. It is the only candidate not engaged in accession talks.
The UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, may go to Copenhagen for one final effort to get Greek-Turkish agreement before the summit ends.
"We're not in a position to sign a document," Mr Denktash told private Turkish broadcaster NTV in a live telephone interview.
"We're not running away from negotiating. Give us time to negotiate with the Greek Cypriots," Mr Denktash said, leaving the door open to talks after the summit. "There cannot be a forced marriage," he said.
Cyprus has been divided along ethnic lines since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded in response to a short-lived Greek Cypriot coup backed by the military junta then ruling Greece. Turkey maintains 30,000 troops in northern Cyprus.
Turkish Cypriot objections to the UN plan, envisaging a bizonal association, have focused on the surrender of some Turkish Cypriot territory to the southern, Greek part of the island.
Mr Annan presented a blueprint to end the decades-long stalemate last month. - (Reuters)