Cypriot leaders meet again in UN-sponsored talks on reunification

The Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot leaders met today and continued their discussion on the issue of citizenship, one of the topics on the agenda under the United Nations-sponsored talks seeking the reunification of the Mediterranean island.

Today’s meeting was the 100th encounter between the two communities’ leaders since the first such meeting in September 2008, Alexander Downer, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Cyprus, told reporters in Nicosia after the gathering.

“There were, it has to be said, differences of opinion expressed,” said Mr. Downer. “Both leaders agreed that what they would do is they would refer the issue to the Representatives who will discuss this on Tuesday, when they meet at the UN offices,” he said.

The Greek Cypriot leader, Dimitris Christofias, and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart, Dervis Eroglu, will themselves meet again Wednesday to continue the discussion on citizenship after their representatives have had the opportunity to tackle some of the differences that arose today, Mr. Downer said.

The talks are aimed at setting up a federal government with a single international personality in a bi-zonal, bi-communal country, with Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot constituent states of equal status.

In a report in December, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, warned that the talks could “founder fatally” if substantive agreement is not reached within the next few months.

“A critical window of opportunity is rapidly closing,” he said, stressing that Greek Cypriot parliamentary elections scheduled for May and elections in Turkey in June militate against constructive talks in the second quarter of this year.

The Secretary-General met with both leaders in Geneva at the end of January, and the two agreed to intensify the reunification talks for an island that has been split since inter-communal violence erupted in 1964.

One of the major sources of contention concerns property. The Greek Cypriots say those with property in the north should be able to seek reinstatement, while Turkish Cypriots say that if all property owners were allowed reinstatement, it would be impossible for Turkish Cypriots to secure bi-zonality. They want a ceiling on those who can have properties reinstated instead of compensation.

The UN has maintained a peacekeeping force on the island – known as UNFICYP – since 1964, with a current strength of nearly 1,000 uniformed personnel and 150 international and national civilian staff.