by Petros Petrides

    NICOSIA, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou arrives in Cyprus on Monday for a visit which is laden with emotion and symbolism.

    Papandreou made the Cyprus tour immediately after a parliament confidence vote, in a move aimed at regaining trust of all Greek Cypriot political forces.

    EFFORTS TO WARM RELATIONS

    Papandreou's traditional good relations with the government and political parties in Cyprus cooled down and he fell out with the former Cyprus government after he expressed support for the so-called Annan plan -- a proposal for a solution of the Cyprus problem, named after former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan who acted as an arbitrator. The plan was rejected in a 2004 referendum by almost 76 percent of the Greek Cypriot voters as one-sided and divisive.

    Papandreou visited Cyprus for only a few hours last December to attend the funeral of the former Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos, the arch-rival of the Annan plan, and again last September, just before the Greek elections, staying only long enough to deliver a speech at the Cyprus University and have a meeting with Cyprus President and Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias.

    Then and there he announced he would pay his first official overseas visit to Cyprus if elected as prime minister. His 24-hourstay in Nicosia will be taken up by meetings with Christofias and the leaders of all parliamentary parties. He will also address its parliament.

    Close associates of Papandreou say that the purpose of the visit is two-fold: first, to fully restore his relations with all sides of the Greek Cypriot political spectrum, a prerequisite for his efforts to solve the Cyprus problem; second, he is also expected to draw plans with the Cyprus government both on the handling of the Cyprus issue and on future relations with Turkey.

    Analysts say that despite his strained relations with the Democratic Party of late President Papadopoulos, Papandreou had maintained fairly good relations with Christofias and his left-wing AKEL party, as well as other Cypriot parties.

    Moreover, when he openly supported the Annan plan, his party PASOK was not in the government, and he had provided supports for Cyprus' EU accession as a Greek foreign minister.

    CYPRUS ISSUE AND TURKEY'S EU PROCESS

    Cyprus has been divided since the Turkish military intervened and occupied the island's north following a coup by a group of Greek officers in 1974. The Cyprus issue is hampering Turkey's bid to join the European Union (EU), while Greek Cypriots represent the island in the bloc.

    Analysts in Nicosia noted that Papandreou has a good understanding of the Cyprus problem and the same sensitivities about Cyprus as his father, Andreas Papandreou, the first Greek prime minister who ever visited Cyprus.

    While addressing the Greek parliament last Friday, Papandreou said that he fully supports the initiatives by Cyprus President Christofias and will continue to have close ties with Cyprus, "not in words, but in deeds."

    Meanwhile, Papandreou has believed it is necessary to develop good relations with neighboring Turkey.

    Ties between Athens and Ankara have improved significantly in the past decade thanks to the joint efforts by Papandreou, who served as Greek foreign minister in the late 1990s, and his then Turkish counterpart, Ismail Cem.

    During a flash visit to Istanbul earlier this month for an informal Balkan countries' ministerial meeting, Papandreou, still a foreign minister, laid olive branches on Cem's grave, a good-will gesture highly welcomed in Turkey.

    Papandreou has said Athens welcomes Turkey's efforts to join the EU, albeit on the "self-evident and unyielding condition that Turkey incorporates the EU acquis, respects international law and contributes to a solution of the Cyprus issue."

    Papandreou's associates say that he aims at a new "road map" for Turkey's entry into the European Union, insisting on a full accession and not just a "privileged relationship" proposed by France.

    They said Papandreou will push for clear-cut obligations for Turkey at the December EU summit on both its stance on the Cyprus problem and the implementation of the European acquis, which refers to the total body of EU laws accumulated thus far.

    The obligations would include the normalization of ties with Cyprus, opening its ports and airports to Cypriot ships and aircraft and taking steps toward peacefully solving problems across the Aegean.