President of Cyprus, Akinci agree on confidence-building measures

The President of Cyprus, Nikos Anastasiades, and Turkish-Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci agreed at a meeting today to implement confidence-building measures (CBMs) mainly in the sectors of telephony and electricity grids.

The move comes a year-and-a-half after the collapse of Cyprus settlement talks at Crans Montana, Switzerland with a new push to jump-start the talks underway.

It also comes amidst bellicose moves by Ankara to impede and undermine the hydrocarbons programme of the Republic of Cyprus and to conduct illegal drilling in Cyprus' Exclusive which for many renders the need for a settlement all the more pressing.

The talks were conducted under the auspices of UN Cyprus envoy Elizabeth Spehar.

A lengthy statement issued by the spokesperson of the United Nations in Cyprus today offered details about the CBMs and left open the prospect of agreeing to more such measures.

The full text of the statement is as follows:

"Today, the Turkish Cypriot leader, Mr. Mustafa Akıncı, and the Greek Cypriot leader, Mr. Nicos Anastasiades, met at the Chief of Mission's residence in the United Nations Protected Area under the auspices of Special Representative/Deputy Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Cyprus, Ms. Elizabeth Spehar.

They had a constructive exchange of views in a cordial atmosphere. Mr. Anastasiades presented his ideas on decentralization and the two leaders discussed in depth the basic principles.

Regarding confidence-building measures, the leaders committed to intensifying the work of the Technical Committees with the objective of improving the daily lives of all Cypriots.

The two leaders decided to implement the confidence-building measure regarding mobile phone interoperability through...