Yahoo – AFP,
Alice Hackman and Nicolas Revise, 4 Dec 2015
Nicosia
(AFP) - US Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday that an end to the
four-decade division of Cyprus was "within reach" as he visited both
sides of the Mediterranean island to support peace talks.
Hopes have
grown for a peace deal since leaders in the Greek Cypriot south and Turkish Cypriot-held
north resumed UN-brokered negotiations in May, with meetings in recent weeks
intensifying to their highest level in years.
Cyprus has
been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied its northern
third in response to an Athens-inspired coup seeking union with Greece.
Cypriot
Foreign Minister Ioannis
Kasoulides (R) welcomes US Secretary
of State John
Kerry in Nicosia on
December 3, 2015 (AFP Photo/
Behrouz Mehri)
|
"I am
more convinced than ever that a resolution to the longstanding division of
Cyprus is within reach, and with it, the many benefits of unity for all the
people of the island," he said.
A
UN-controlled buffer zone -- the "Green Line" -- runs across the
island and through Nicosia, Europe's last divided capital, separating the
self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) from the Republic of
Cyprus.
Kerry met
with both Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci and his Greek Cypriot
counterpart Nicos Anastasiades, who embarked on a new round of peace talks
towards reunification after Akinci won elections in April.
"Both
leaders underscored something we strongly believe in the United States: not
only will a just, comprehensive, and lasting solution for Cyprus have an
enormously positive impact on the island, it will lift up the entire
region," Kerry said.
"A
united Cyprus will stand as a beacon of hope in a tumultuous part of the world
at a time when people need that beacon. It will be a model for other places in
search of a peaceful, multi-ethnic future.
"With
a lasting settlement to this decades-long conflict, Cyprus could also become a
regional energy and commercial hub," he said, adding, "We believe
this is Cyprus's moment."
'Cautiously optimistic'
Kerry is
the second senior US official to travel to Cyprus after Vice President Joe
Biden in 2014 became the highest level American visitor since Lyndon B. Johnson
in 1962.
Cypriot
President Nicos Anastasiades (R) greets US Secretary of State
John Kerry in
Nicosia on December 3, 2015 (AFP Photo/Jonathan Ernst)
|
He arrived
in Cyprus from Belgrade, where he had taken part in the annual ministerial
council of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
The visit
comes amid an international push for a solution to the Cyprus issue, as UN
peace envoy Espen Barth Eide last week announced "further progress"
in talks, the most intensive in years.
"They
now feel more hopeful and confident that the outstanding issues could be
resolved in the near future," the Norwegian diplomat said.
Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Cyprus on Wednesday, a day after Turkish
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu made his first visit to the north since assuming
office, expressing his support for a "viable, just and peaceful
solution".
Rival
leaders have failed to come up with a power-sharing formula for four decades,
struggling with issues including lost property, Turkish soldiers in the north
and landmine clearance.
But after
Akinci was elected on a mandate to pursue further talks, he and Anastasiades
announced several confidence-building measures, including a promise to hand
over maps detailing 28 Greek Cypriot minefields in the north, scrapping visa
requirements for Greek Cypriots and connecting electricity grids.
Ankara and
Washington voiced hope that 2015 could be the year that Cyprus was reunited.
Mete Hatay,
a TRNC-based political analyst, said he was "cautiously optimistic"
but did not expect negotiations to find a solution by the end of the year.
"The
negotiations look good, but it's not easy," he said.
During the
Turkish invasion, around 200,000 people fled in a population exchange, Greek
Cypriots to the south and Turkish Cypriots to the north, leaving behind their
homes and land.
Their lost
property -- as well as territory -- will be "the last issues that are
going to be on the table," Hatay said.
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