Mustafa Akıncı

A Turkish Cypriot girl in traditional dress gives gifts to a Greek Cypriot as he drives through the newly opened checkpoint linking the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities in Lefka-Aplici, Monday.

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades will brief the Cypriot public Tuesday in a press conference on his idea for a decentralized federation as a model for reuniting the war-torn island.

United Nations special envoy Jane Holl Lute met in Nicosia on Wednesday with Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and reportedly conveyed a message from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urging all parties involved in the Cyprus issue to agree on the terms that will allow the resumption of reunification talks.

UN envoy Jane Hall Lute will hold separate meetings on Wednesday with Cyprus President, Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci.

Lute will visit the two leaders by herself, without being accompanied by an aide or any other UN official.

The rival leaders of ethnically divided Cyprus agreed Friday to open next month two more crossing points along a United Nations-controlled buffer zone that cuts across the small island nation, in a bid to generate some momentum toward resuming stalled reunification talks.

A protestor holds a placard reading in Greek "Go solution now" during a peace protest from Greek and Turkish Cypriots outside the presidential palace in the divided capital Nicosia, Thursday.

The upcoming meeting of the two leaders on Friday is a significant step in terms of keeping the dialogue open on issues that are of importance to both communities, UN envoy Elizabeth Spehar said on Wednesday evening.

Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akıncı has suggested a rare social meeting with Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades to talk about the new crossings would be "possible."

It is necessary to aim a result-oriented, scheduled and strategic package deal for the Cyprus negotiation process, the president of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) told reporters following his meeting with the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at UN headquarters in New York.

Jane Holl Lute, the special envoy of the UN Secretary General, is set to meet with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias on Tuesday as part of her ongoing Cyprus tour.

Kotzias will welcome the UN diplomat in Athens at 4 p.m., where he is expected to lay down the main positions of his government regarding the Cyprus talks process.