Foreign relations of Cyprus

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker is to start his first official visit to Greek Cyprus on July 16 for talks on the bailed-out island's economy and the UN-brokered peace process.

The EU and Greece have a deal after 17 hours of difficult negotiations; statements confirm that Greece has accepted almost all the demands put before it.

The summit of European Union leaders began on Sunday afternoon and lasted all night, during which sporadic reports emerged of very dramatic demands that Germany in particular insisted on.

A second simultaneous referendum on Cypriot reunification could take place in early 2016 following negotiations between the two entities' presidents, a Turkish government source said July 2.

There are many aspects of the Cyprus problem. It is neither just a property or refugee is-sue, nor a territory matter. It definitely includes all such headings, as well as the partnership of the two peoples in the land and the sovereignty of the island. But, even if there is an ac-cord answering the expectations of the two peoples on all those headings, will the problem be resolved?

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?

By Pantelis Boukalas

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.

Leaders of rival communities in ethnically-split Cyprus shared coffee and cake on Saturday in a symbolic gesture underscoring a thaw in relations over a conflict spanning decades.

A solution to the Cyprus problem is possible within months, the Turkish Cypriot chief negotiator in UN-brokered talks that resumed this week on reunifying the island said on Saturday.