Eligible voters in the southern (Greek) part of Cyprus began to go to the polls at 7:00 am (0400 GMT) on April 24 in a referendum on a UN plan for reunifying Cyprus.

About 480,000 Greek Cypriots in the south and 143,000 Turkish Cypriots in the north age 18 and over are eligible to vote.

The results are expected shortly after polls close at 6 a.m. local time.

Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash and Cyprus' president, Greek Cypriot Tassos Papadopoulos, are both opposed to the plan. But they have agreed to respect the results of the polls.

If the UN plan is rejected by one side, it would be null and void and only the Greek Cypriot part of the island will join the European Union on May 1.

Cyprus, an east Mediterranean island, has been divided into the Turkish-Cypriot north and the Greek-Cypriot south since 1974 when Turkish troops entered the north of the island after a failed Greek-Cypriot coup seeking union with Greece.

Source: Xinhua