The Cypriot government Tuesday said that it welcomed the UN Secretary General's call for resumption of talks between the island's two parties on a settlement of the Cyprus problem but had reservations about the part of lifting the isolation on Cypriot North.

"We fully agree with the Secretary General that declarations of intent are not sufficient, but what is needed is action," the semi-official CNA news agency quoted government Spokesman Christodoulos Pashiardis as saying.

Pashiardis, however, expressed his government's reservations about UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's remarks on lifting the isolation on the Cypriot North.

He said in a statement that the isolation was mainly self imposed by the north with an intent of securing "political upgrading or indirect recognition and participation in international organizations."

As for the Comprehensive Settlement of the Cyprus Problem offered by Annan, Pashiardis reiterated that Annan's plan could not lead to a successful reunification of the divided island.

"The fact that Cyprus' reunification was not possible, through the Annan Plan, was because this specific plan, as it was, did not secure the reunification of the people and the country, but merely imposed a loose attachment of two separate entities," the spokesman said.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey militarily intervened and occupied the north of Cyprus following a coup by a group of Greek officers.

In April 2004, a UN-envisaged plan for a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem was approved by the Turkish Cypriot community but rejected by the Greek Cypriots who deemed that it would not meet their aspiration for the island's reunification.

The internationally-recognized Republic of Cyprus then entered the European Union on behalf of the whole island in May 2004.

Source: Xinhua