UN chief visiting Cyprus for peace talks Sunday

Athens/Nicosia - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is scheduled to arrive in Cyprus Sunday to help rival leaders find a solution to reunify the divided eastern Mediterranean island. Cyprus has been been split since 1974, ever since Turkey invaded the northern third of the island in response to a Greek-inspired coup.

Greek Cypriots currently live in the south of Cyprus and Turkish Cypriots in the north, divided by a United Nations-supervised buffer zone, or No Man's Land - which runs through the heart of Nicosia.

The UN Secretary General's three-day visit is seen as an effort to shore up the faltering negotiations which began in September 2008.

Ban Ki-moon will hold discussions with Greek Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat as well as with special adviser Alexander Downer, focusing on the state of progress in the talks, and on how best the UN can continue to assist their efforts.

Seven-days of UN-led negotiations ended on Friday with leaders saying that significant progress has been made in a series of areas of governance.

Both Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders say they are committed to finding a solution this year after 16 months of sluggish negotiations, which included three marathon sessions earlier this month.

It was not clear whether rival leaders would commit to a third round of intensive talks in February.

Peace talks were launched amid much optimism and high expectations but have since faltered as the two sides remain divided on the core issues of property, security and territorial adjustments.

Experts have expressed fears that the two leaders have little time left, with elections in the occupied northern part of the island expected to bring a hardliner to power.

Turkish Cypriot hardliner Dervis Eroglu, considered to be a nationalist extremist, has said he will run in presidential elections in northern Cyprus on April 18.

If elected, Eroglu will likely bring a permanent division the island by forming two entirely separate states.

EU officials have said that progress at the Cyprus reunification talks will be essential to move Turkey's slow-moving EU accession process forward.

Although the peace talks and Turkey's EU membership negotiations are separate processes, a breakthrough on one is likely to have a positive impact on the other.

Christofias has ruled out any draft agreement at this stage, as both sides are adamant that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.

Leaders have suggested that much of their differences lie on how to deal with the thousands of property claims from people uprooted in past conflicts.

Greek Cypriot leaders have also criticized recent proposals by the Turkish Cypriots for separate rights to sign international agreements and control the Mediterranean island's airspace.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/306763,un-chief-visiting-cyprus-for-peace-talks-sunday.html.