Cyprus leaders to resume talks as rift lingers

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish-Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci are to resume talks on Thursday as part of the latest United Nations-buffered initiative aimed at reaching a settlement on the divided island.

Talks between the two leaders are set to continue until late March when another multi-party summit is expected to be held in Geneva.

Although the latest UN initiative has yielded significant momentum, the two sides remain divided on two thorny issues: foreign guarantees and the presence of foreign troops on the island.

In comments published in Cumhuriyet, Akinci reiterated that he would not accept a settlement that does not foresee guarantees and a certain level of military presence on the island. "There can be not even the slightest change to the system of guarantees from 1960 and the agreement established then, even 57 years later," he was...

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