Cyprus
President Nicos Anastasiades is set to meet newly elected Turkish Cypriot
leader Mustafa Akinci. The meeting comes ahead of a new round of UN-brokered
talks aimed at reuniting the long-divided island.
Deutsche Welle, 28 April 2015
Spokesman
for Cyprus' government, Nicos Christodoulides, said on Tuesday that the two
leaders will meet on Saturday to tackle issues relating to reconciliation
efforts between the ethnically divided island.
Greek
Cypriots pulled out of the UN-brokered talks in October in protest at Turkish
exploration for oil and gas off the island's coast but announced earlier this
month that they would return to the negotiating table after the Turkish Cypriot
election. The venue is yet to be confirmed.
Hope of
reunification
Akinci, a
longtime advocate of reunifying the island, was Cyprus rejoices as unifier Akinci wins in Turkish north elected as the leader of the breakaway Turkish
Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on Sunday - defeating nationalist incumbent
Dervis Eroglu.
Following
Akinci's election, Anastasiades said on Monday that the result had renewed hope
that a settlement could be reached between Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders
after 40 years of division.
"At
long last, hope is created that our homeland can be reunited to create a modern
state governed by EU principles, creating the prospects of cooperation, peace
and tranquility," Anastasiades said in Cyprus' capital, Nicosia.
Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan scolded Akinci, however, after the new Turkish
Cypriot leader said Turkey and the TRNC should enjoy a relationship of
"brotherly countries" rather than mother and child.
Four divided
decades
Cyprus has
been divided by a UN-monitored ceasefire line since 1974 when Turkish troops
occupied its northern third in response to an Athens-inspired coup, seeking
union with Greece.
The Turkish
Cypriots, who had already pulled out of government institutions in the face of
communal violence in 1963, declared their breakaway state in 1983.
The
separatist state is recognized only by Turkey, however, which provides around a
third of its budget.
Earlier
last week, both Ankara and Washington voiced hope that 2015 be the year Cyprus
becomes reunited.
ksb/bw (AFP, AP)
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