Cypriot

Expert-level talks in Mont Pelerin have showed the European Union cannot provide the kind of safety and constitutional status that Turkish Cypriots want because the bloc does not have such a mechanism, Turkish Cypriot President Mustafa Akıncı has said. 

Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci has repeated his demand that Turkish troops be stationed on Cyprus following a potential deal to reunite the Mediterranean island.

In an interview with Turkish news channel NTV, Akinci said that insistence of Greek Cypriots on "zero guarantees and zero troops" was blocking progress towards an agreement.

The United Nations said two days of expert-level talks on the possible reunification of Cyprus had ended on Jan. 19, describing them as a success but without disclosing any details.

In their meeting they will talk about about the five chapters that deal with the internal affairs of Cyprus.

Today there is an unofficial meeting of the Greek-Cypriots and Turkish-Cypriots subject matter experts in Mont Pelerin, to talk a synopsis of what has being discussed in the previous 48 hours.

Between two checkpoints in Europe's last divided capital, a coffee shop provides a venue for Greek and Turkish Cypriots to overcome their differences and dream of a shared future.

To sip coffee at Home for Cooperation, visitors must first show their identity papers to border police to enter the UN-patrolled buffer zone that runs across Nicosia and the rest of the island. 

Rival Cypriot delegations have failed to agree on maps for new borders on the divided island state, each slamming the other's proposals as "unacceptable," Turkey's foreign minister has said.

Turkish Cypriot President Mustafa Akıncı on Jan. 13 said the map submitted by Greek Cypriots to the UN was unacceptable and the Turkish Cypriots would not sign anything that would not include rotating presidency. 

No one expects that solving the Cyprus issue will be easy. No one besides the Cypriots themselves has a right to set terms for and possible obstacles in the way of a solution. No one expects that problems which existed for decades, and mentalities forged in fire and war, which dominate memories on both sides, will disappear.

Will it be possible for the Turkish Cypriot president to produce a map showing his territorial offers for a settlement on Cyprus while not even an inch of progress has been achieved on replacing the "red" section regarding power sharing with a "black" one? If he does walk such a road, will it be possible for him to return to northern Cyprus still claiming that compromises were made but that the

With the International peace talks on the Cypriot problem under way in Geneva, Switzerland, the participation of the Greek PM Alexis Tsipras still remains unclear. Currently the parties attending the meerting include the President of the Cypriot Republic, Nicos Anastasiades, the leader of the Turkish-Cypriot community, Mustafa Akinci and the UN’s special adviser on Cyprus, Espen Barth Eide.