Athens/Nicosia - Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders met on
Wednesday to discuss power-sharing and governance in the latest round
of talks on ending their decades-old conflict and reuniting the
island.
It was the sixth meeting between Cyprus President Dimitris
Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat since they
launched a new round of peace talks on September 3. The two leaders
are scheduled to meet again on November 3.
'The talks are continuing and are constructive,' Alexander Downer,
special advisor to United Nations secretary general, said in a
statement.
Both sides are hoping to end the conflict that has dragged on for
more than three decades and which threatens Turkey's aspirations of
joining the European Union.
Peace talks were deadlocked after former president Tassos
Papadopoulos led the Greek-Cypriot rejection of a UN reunification
plan in a 2004 referendum. Turkish Cypriots had overwhelmingly voted
in favour.
With newly-elected Christofias in office, expectations are running
high for a breakthrough in efforts to reunite the island, which has
been divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded the northern third in
response to an Athens-led coup to annex the island to Greece.
The two sides have agreed in principle to reunite the island as a
federal entity composed of two constituent states, which would
guarantee the equality of both communities.
Diplomats fear the peace process, which is barely two months in
progress, may already be losing momentum.
The real problem dividing the two sides is how the Greek Cypriot
majority would share power with the minority Turkish Cypriots.
The Turkish Cypriots want a loose federation while the Greek
Cypriots want a stronger central government and more limited regional
powers which will prevent the island falling back into partition.
Meeting at the site of the abandoned, bullet-riddled former
airport in the UN buffer zone, both sides have been focusing on the
complex list of issues dividing the two sides.
These range from territory and property disputes from more than
250,000 people who have lost their homes, to future governance of the
island.
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