The polls on the south of the island said 78.5 per cent of Greek Cypriots had rejected the plan. A separate exit poll by Turkey’s private CNN-Turk television found 61 per cent of Turkish Cypriots accepted the plan.
The exit polls were declared moments after polling stations closed across the island.
Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots were voting in separate referendums on whether to accept a plan by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan that would reunify Cyprus after 30 years of division. The international community has pushed hard for acceptance of the plan ahead of Cyprus’ May 1 entry to the European Union.
