Mustafa Akinci

United Nations envoy Jane Holl Lute on Sunday held further consultations with the leaders of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities on restarting the stalled peace negotiations for the reunification of Cyprus.

Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akıncı snubbed a football match on March 19 aimed at fostering dialogue on the divided island, in a row over where the game was played.

An initiative to build bridges between the Greek and Turkish speaking communities of ethnically split Cyprus faltered Tuesday after the leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots skipped a soccer match over a dispute of the games location.

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.

Cyprus's president says conditions aren't yet ready for a resumption of formal talks to reunify the ethnically divided island nation because both sides remain apart on key issues regarding power sharing and security arrangements.

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci have reached an arrangement that will eventually allow the interoperability of mobile phones throughout the island.

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades will meet with Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci in the second half of February.

Keeping up the tension in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Friday sparked controversy by underscoring Ankara's military might as his foreign minister announced that the country will start exploring for natural resources around Cyprus.

Turkey will begin drilling for resources around Cyprus, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday, a move that could create tensions with neighboring Cyprus and Greece over ownership of natural resources.

Attempts to tap gas and oil in the eastern Mediterranean have caused friction between Athens and Ankara.

Turkish Cypriot President Mustafa Akıncı has said that no negotiations on the Cyprus issue are expected until the middle of this year.