"Nikiforos 2005" will take place October 18-23 across the "sea, land and air space of the Cyprus Republic," a statement aid.

The statement made no reference to the fact that the northern third of Cyprus is occupied by Turkish forces, who back a self-proclaimed state recognised only by Ankara.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded in response to an Athens-engineered Greek Cypriot coup aimed at uniting the island with Greece.

The war games, which had mobilised around 20,000 Greek Cypriot reservists, were shelved after 2001 to create an improved climate for UN-sponsored peace talks to reunite the divided island.

Cyprus held the exercises in conjunction with the Greek armed forces carrying out similar manouvres, codenamed Toxotis, in the region.

When Greece decided to back out of joint exercises in recent years, Cyprus followed suit in order to cultivate a climate of goodwill and reduce tensions while UN peace efforts continued to search for a Cyprus settlement.

This time, Cyprus has decided go ahead on its own regardless of what Athens decides to do.

The United Nations, Washington and London had all encouraged the exercises not to take place so as not to worsen tensions in the region, and the Cypriot government can expect some fall-out from this decision.

However, there has been growing pressure from some political parties and sections of the media for the manoeuvres to go ahead. Tuesday's announcement ends months of speculation.

The latest diplomatic effort to end partition failed in April 2004 when the Greek Cypriots voted down a UN-drafted reunification plan, while Turkish Cypriots overwhelmingly supported it.

The UN plan has been in the deep freeze ever since.

The Cyprus issue is a stumbling block for Turkey's European aspirations, as Ankara refuses to recognise Cyprus.

All rights reserved. © 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.