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1st Ld Writethru: UN Security Council hails resumed talks on Cyprus

Xinhua, May 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

The UN Security Council on Friday welcomed the resumption of the Cyprus settlement talks, voicing its hope that the leaders take advantage of this opportunity to reach a proper solution under relevant council resolutions.

"The members of the Security Council welcomed the resumption on 15 May 2015 of the Cyprus settlement talks, in the framework of the Good Offices mission of the secretary-general of the United Nations," the 15-nation council said in a statement issued to the press here.

The members of the Security Council expressed their hope that the leaders take advantage of the opportunity to reach a comprehensive settlement based on a bicommunal, bizonal federation with political equality, as set out in the relevant Security Council resolutions, the statement said.

Leaders of ethnically-divided Cyprus started negotiations Friday, pledging to "work tirelessly" to settle the Cyprus problem which has not be resolved in more than 41 years.

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci had their first working session at which they also agreed to personally take charge of the talks.

The council members reaffirmed their support for the process in line with the Joint Communique of Feb. 11, 2014 and to the efforts of UN Special Adviser Espen Barth Eide, according to the statement.

Another statement, issued late Thursday by the spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said that the UN chief welcomed the resumption of the talks. "With the momentum continuing to build for a solution to the long-standing division of the island, the secretary-general salutes the commitment of the leaders to move forward without delay, in a constructive and dedicated manner, as expressed during the dinner hosted by Special Adviser Eide on 11 May 2015," said the statement.

Ban also called on the leaders to seize this opportunity to achieve tangible progress towards a comprehensive settlement that would clearly benefit both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. He reiterated his commitment to supporting the leaders in their efforts to achieve a mutually agreed comprehensive settlement based on the joint declaration of Feb. 11 and in line with relevant UN Security Council resolutions, said the statement.

Anastasiades and Akinci met at a UN-controlled compound at the old Nicosia airport, defunct since the 1974 fighting.

It was during the 1974 conflict that Turkish troops, reacting to a short-lived coup engineered by officers of the army junta then ruling Greece, occupied the northern part of the Mediterranean island, dividing the Greek and Turkish Cypriot population.

All previous efforts to solve the Cyprus problem had failed. Endite