By Michele Kambas
NICOSIA (Reuters) - Hardline Cypriot President TassosPapadopoulos's electoral defeat raised prospects on Monday ofan end to a schism with ethnic Turks that has at times broughtNATO partners Greece and Turkey to the brink of war.
Papadopoulos, 74, was unexpectedly voted out in a firstround of polling on Sunday, opening the February 24 runoff totwo candidates seeking swift resumption of reunification talks-- a move that could help European Union aspirant Turkey'srelations with Brussels.
"A historic era has officially ended... with Papadopoulosthe last of the Mohicans," wrote the Simerini newspaper in afront-page editorial.
Politis newspaper similarly resorted to imagery, taking itscue from cartoons. Kassoulides and Christofias were portrayedas road runners, with Papadopoulos as Wile E Coyote slamminginto a rock.
A Cyprus deal has eluded generations of Western diplomatssince 1960s ethnic bloodshed that followed independence fromBritain. The island was partitioned in 1974, when Turkeyinvaded in defence of ethnic Turks it said were endangered by amilitant Greek Cypriot coup engineered by the military rulingGreece.
Relations between Greece and Turkey have eased in the lastdecade, but Cyprus remains a raw wound for Greece and Turkey aswell as EU member Cyprus itself. Nicosia, recognised by the EUas sole sovereign power over the island, is unlikely to promoteTurkish membership talks without reunification in some form.
Sunday's election results could help end current stalemate.
Both right-winger Ioannis Kassoulides, 59, and communistDemetris Christofias, 62, pledge a more conciliatory approachtowards Turkish Cypriots in the northern third of the eastMediterranean island and have said they will pursue meetingswith its leadership if elected.
The last peace effort collapsed in 2004 when Papadopoulos,elected a year earlier, led Greek Cypriot rejection of a UnitedNations blueprint for reunification. Christofias had rejectedthe plan then, and Kassoulides's party had supported it.
Turkey has 30,000 troops in north Cyprus and is the onlycountry to recognise the breakaway state, which had its own'generation change' almost 4 years ago, when veteran leaderRauf Denktash stepped down.
WOOING PAPADOPOULOS
Both sides sought the backing of Papadopoulos's supportersto seal victory.
Kassoulides and Christofias were scheduled to have meetingswith Papadopoulos's key backers, the Democratic Party, onMonday. Senior party members would meet on Tuesday.
There was no indication on how Papadopoulos would swing.One newspaper reported Monday that Kassoulides had held out anolive branch to the Papadopoulos camp, offering EU HealthCommissioner Markos Kyprianou the post of Cypriot foreignminister.
Papadopoulos was elected in 2003 with support fromChristofias, but his party had also supported right-wingers inpast elections.
"There was a vote for candidates more proactive about asolution," a western diplomat in Nicosia told Reuters. "I wouldassume that the United Nations would see this as a positivesign, that there is the wish and the will there for asolution."
Mediators are expected to take the pulse for the resumptionof talks this year, a possibility which could bode well forTurkey, which has its EU bid assessed in 2009.
Its EU membership talks were partially suspended in 2006over its refusal to open its ports and airports to GreekCypriot traffic.
(Editing by Ralph Boulton)
