Roundup: Cypriot leaders say they will speed up reunification process

The leaders of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities of Cyprus have decided to speed up their work towards reunifying the eastern Mediterranean island, a United Nations official brokering their negotiations said Monday.

"The leaders believe that the coming months will be critical for the process," Espen Barth Eide, special adviser to the United Nations Secretary General on Cyprus, said after a four-hour meeting of the two leaders.

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Mustafa Akinci, the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community, have been engaged in negotiations since June aimed at bringing the two communities together under a federal umbrella.

Cyprus has been partitioned into a Greek Cypriots occupied south and a Turkish Cypriots occupied north since 1974.

A joint statement read by Eide said the two leaders "while encouraged by the progress being made, also recognize the hard work that lies ahead."

It added that they will increase the frequency of their meetings in the coming months and expressed their commitment to work tirelessly to reach a comprehensive settlement as soon as possible.

The statement said they discussed the state of play across chapters since negotiations resumed four months ago.

It added that the negotiators discussing issues on behalf of the leaders provided them with an update on the work they have carried out since the meeting of the leaders on Sept. 1, 2015.

"The leaders acknowledged the careful and constructive efforts of the negotiators and their teams," it said, adding they will meet again in the middle and the end of October.

Anastasiades and Akinci are currently discussing perhaps the thorniest chapter of the Cyprus problem, the future of properties left behind by almost half of the population of the island during the 1974 fighting.

Anastasiades said in a separate statement that at Monday's meeting they recorded convergences and divergences, so as to concentrate in an intensive mode on the creation of conditions which will allow them to reach comprehensive convergences.

"It is still early, as there are problems which are not easy to solve," said Anastasiades.

But he said there is determination to work in an intensive manner and with good will to reach an agreement acceptable by both communities as soon as possible, on the basis of the recognized rights of every European citizen. Endit