Cyprus

United Nations Special Adviser Espen Barth Eide on Monday returned to Cyprus, where President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish-Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci are due to meet Wednesday, after being briefed about Greece?s positions on the reunification talks.

Buoyed with the "success" of the New York talks, Turkish Cypriot President Mustafa Ak?nc? shyly declared that even if it would be overoptimistic to expect a resolution to the over-50-years-old Cyprus problem by the end of the year, he could say that a resolution might be achieved within months. If Ak?nc?

Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias is due to meet in Athens at noon on Monday with the UN Secretary General?s Special Adviser on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide.

The meeting comes three days after Kotzias met his Cypriot counterpart Ioannis Kasoulides, also in Athens.

Both sides in Cyprus must work to find a solution that does not create winners or losers on the divided island, Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades told Hürriyet in a recent interview, adding that a new government in Turkey may have a ?direct effect? on the talks that recent got back on track.
 

There is strong international and domestic momentum behind UN-brokered peace talks aimed at reuniting Cyprus after 41 years, an ?encouraged? UN envoy said Tuesday.

?We are on a good track right now. and the international support is remarkably strong,? Norwegian diplomat Espen Barth Eide told reporters after meeting Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades.

The rival leaders of Cyprus attended a theatrical play on June 8 that implores the island's Greek- and Turkish-speaking communities to confront the wrongs of a tortured history to drive home their shared commitment for a reunification deal.

The rival leaders of Cyprus attended a theatrical play on Monday that implores the divided island's Greek- and Turkish-speaking communities to confront the wrongs of a tortured history to drive home their shared commitment for a reunification deal.

Turkish Cypriot President Mustafa Ak?nc? left June 2 for New York City at the invitation of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for their first meeting since April's presidential election in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

"The negotiation process has started intensively," said Ak?nc? to the press at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport before departing for New York City.

The Greek and Turkish Cypriot Presidents agreed on Thursday to open two new crossing points and discussed other confidence-building measures (CBMs).

Nicos Anastasiades and Mustafa Akinci expressed their shared will and determination to reach a comprehensive settlement, the Cyprus Mail reports.

Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders agreed May 28 to open further crossing points linking the two parts and to merge their electricity networks, a U.N. envoy has said.