Athens/Nicosia - Rival leaders looking for a way to unify
the divided island of Cyprus sought the expertise of Canadian experts
Thursday on the tricky issue of seized property.
Emerging after nearly four hours of talks, Alexander Downer, the
special advisor to the UN secretary general, said Greek Cypriot
President Dimitris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali
Tatat still have a way to go before a settlement is reached on the
decades-old division of the Mediterranean island.
'They presented their positions on the criteria for a property
settlement ... This is a very early stage in those discussions and
they have a way to go,' said Downer, adding 'these are difficult
issues and are not going to be resolved in one meeting like that.'
He said the United Nations has engaged the help of renowned
experts from Canada for assistance and guidance on constitutional
matters.
'We have an academic who has been helping us. He comes from a
Canadian University, I think the University of Western Ontario.'
Speaking to reporters following the talks, Christofias said 'the
sooner that a solution is found the better for the entire Cypriot
nation.'
'I have said that we have differences. Today the talks were held
in a friendly manner and we continue our talks next week.'
The two leaders will next meet on February 19.
Despite the enthusiasm that greeted a new round of peace talks in
September following a four-year stalemate, weekly talks between
Christofias and Talat failed to produce a breakthrough in 2008.
Although a settlement has been thwarted for decades, mediators are
optimistic that Christofias and Talat will broker a deal within the
year. Any deal will need to be approved by Cypriots in separate,
simultaneous referendums.
The eastern Mediterranean island has been split since 1974 into a
Greek Cypriot south and Turkish Cypriot controlled north. Turkey
invaded the northern third of Cyprus in response to a short-lived
coup initiated by the military junta then ruling Greece.
At the time, 160,000 Greek Cypriots and 40,000 Turkish Cypriots
were uprooted from their settlements and forced to seek shelter in
opposite ends of the island.
This has led to property disputes where thousands of individuals
stake a claim to land and homes seized decades ago.
Ankara still maintains more than 35,000 troops in the northern
part of the island and refuses to normalize ties with the
internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus, a member of the
European Union.
Since then, countless efforts by the United Nations to find a
solution have failed, most recently when former president Tassos
Papadopoulos led the Greek-Cypriot rejection of a UN reunification
plan in a 2004 referendum.
Turkish Cypriots had voted overwhelmingly in favour.
Following the election of Christofias last February, in which he
ousted hardliner Papadopoulos, immediate steps were taken by both
sides to relaunch full-fledged peace talks.
The two sides have agreed in principle to a settlement based on a
federation, but 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.
There is disagreement on whether a bi-zonal federation would
permit free movement or try to enforce the ethnic majorities in the
north and the south.
The ongoing conflict in Cyprus also threatens Turkey's aspirations
of joining the EU. Ankara started EU entry talks in 2005, but the
Cyprus problem has proved one of the main stumbling blocks in
negotiations.
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