15/03/2017 08:52
UN Secretary General`s Special Adviser on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide will have separate meetings on Wednesday with the leaders of the island`s two communities, in an effort to rekindle the stalled peace process.
Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades will receive Eide in late afternoon and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci will meet Eide in the morning, UN Spokesman Aleem Siddique has told CNA.
The UN top envoy on Cyprus has been on the island for the past few days and is having meetings with representatives of civil society, as well as other players, in an effort to find ways to overcome the current impasse.
In an interview with CNA, he noted that steps are being taken to bring the leaders back to the negotiating table, but refrained from elaborating on them, indicating that this way they will probably be more successful.
“It takes two to tango and requires some will of mutual accommodation,” he pointed out, and expressed some worry whether a structured process can be achieved once the leaders return to the dialogue.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. UN led talks between the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot communities resumed in May 2015 with a view to reunite the island under a federal roof.
The talks were interrupted in mid February by the Turkish Cypriot side, which demands that a decision passed by the Cypriot Parliament relating to a 1950 referendum on union with Greece is revoked, claiming this indicates a shift in the Greek Cypriot side`s goal for a federal solution. The amendment provides that there will be a very brief reference to the referendum at schools.
President Anastasiades has described the House decision as wrong and called on the leader of the Turkish Cypriot leader, Mustafa Akinci, who walked out of the talks, to return to the negotiating table to discuss pending issues with a view to reach a mutually acceptable agreement to reunite the country.
Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades will receive Eide in late afternoon and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci will meet Eide in the morning, UN Spokesman Aleem Siddique has told CNA.
The UN top envoy on Cyprus has been on the island for the past few days and is having meetings with representatives of civil society, as well as other players, in an effort to find ways to overcome the current impasse.
In an interview with CNA, he noted that steps are being taken to bring the leaders back to the negotiating table, but refrained from elaborating on them, indicating that this way they will probably be more successful.
“It takes two to tango and requires some will of mutual accommodation,” he pointed out, and expressed some worry whether a structured process can be achieved once the leaders return to the dialogue.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. UN led talks between the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot communities resumed in May 2015 with a view to reunite the island under a federal roof.
The talks were interrupted in mid February by the Turkish Cypriot side, which demands that a decision passed by the Cypriot Parliament relating to a 1950 referendum on union with Greece is revoked, claiming this indicates a shift in the Greek Cypriot side`s goal for a federal solution. The amendment provides that there will be a very brief reference to the referendum at schools.
President Anastasiades has described the House decision as wrong and called on the leader of the Turkish Cypriot leader, Mustafa Akinci, who walked out of the talks, to return to the negotiating table to discuss pending issues with a view to reach a mutually acceptable agreement to reunite the country.
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