Greek Cypriots

Two hot developments happened simultaneously concerning the eastern Mediterranean. One is from Cyprus, the other from Iraq. 

Don?t consider that what happens in Iraq is far away from the eastern Mediterranean? Syrian ports, the Persian Gulf and indeed Turkey?s Mediterranean shores are on the same ?strategic fault line.? 

By Menelaos Hadjicostis

Cyprus's rival leaders met Friday at a United Nations compound to restart talks aimed at ending the small Mediterranean island nation's four decades of division.

Foreign Minister Özdil Nami is to represent Turkish Cypriots in negotiations with the Greek Cypriot side, the newly-elected President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Mustafa Ak?nc?, has said in a statement.
      
"An important window of opportunity to resolve the Cyprus issue" is available, according to the May 1 statement of Ak?nc?.

It is difficult to grow up on an island. It is even more difficult if that island is a bi-communal one and you belong to the numerically smaller community. Well, I would not say "minority," as we Turkish Cypriots hate that word. Nowhere else in the world, perhaps, does a father or mother celebrate when, for the first time, their kid "rebels" and serves a "nice kick" to either of them.

Greek Cypriots welcomed the election of a moderate Turkish Cypriot leader in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on April 27, saying they anticipated a swift resumption of stalled peace talks.

The citizens of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus will vote in a presidential election on April 19, with an atmosphere of returning to the bargaining table developing on both the Turkish and Greek sides of the divided island. 

A Turkish Cypriot man has turned the U.N.-led Cyprus negotiations into a satirical video game, saying it irked Greek Cypriots for showing Greek Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades ?running from the table.?

A U.N. envoy for the divided island of Cyprus said April 7 he expected stalled peace talks to resume "within weeks," following a six-month suspension in a row over offshore gas reserves.

A United Nations envoy says halted talks on reunifying ethnically divided Cyprus will resume after a clash over the island's potential offshore gas riches has subsided.

Espen Barth Eide told reporters Tuesday that Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu agreed to resume talks after an April 19 Turkish Cypriot leadership election.

Turkish Cypriots say they have halted their own search for gas off the east Mediterranean island's coast in the latest sign that suspended reunification talks could restart soon.
     
Özdil Nami, the Turkish Cypriot foreign minister, told The Associated Press March 30 that a Turkish vessel that has been searching for gas the last few months will be sent back to Turkey.