UN hosts meeting with Greek Cypriot, Turkish Cypriot

Civil Society

25 Feb 2014, 11:12 am Print

New York, Feb 25 (JEN): ‘Substantive discussions’ started on Monday in the resumed talks aimed at reaching a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem, a United Nations spokesperson confirmed, following a meeting on Monday between Greek Cypriot negotiator Andreas Mavroyiannis and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart, Kudret Özersay.

“They completed their exchange of views on the process and started substantive discussions on issues connected to different chapters,” said the spokesperson for the Secretary General’s Good Offices Mission in Cyprus.

The meeting at the UN Protected Area in the capital, Nicosia, comes more than a week after Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu met in the same location to finalize a joint communiqué and formally re-launch talks between both sides.

The UN has been facilitating talks between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leadership, with a view to the eventual establishment of a federal government with a single international personality, consisting of a Turkish Cypriot Constituent State and a Greek Cypriot Constituent State, each of equal status.

The UN also maintains a peacekeeping force in Cyprus, known as UNFICYP, which was deployed in 1964, when inter-communal fighting erupted on the Mediterranean island.

Discussions between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot negotiators are set to continue next week.

UNFICYP peacekeepers patrolling in Sector 1 in Cyprus. Photo: UNFICYP