Roundup: President Anastasiades sets time frame for settlement of Cyprus problem

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades said on Tuesday that he hoped that a solution to the long-standing Cyprus problem would be reached by May of next year.

"I do hope that the negotiations will bear fruit before the parliamentary elections," Anastasiades told an economist conference here to examine the prospects for Europe and Cyprus' economic recovery following the 2013 crisis.

Parliamentary elections for the Greek Cypriot-dominated House of Representatives are scheduled for May 15, 2016.

That was the first time Anastasiades committed himself to a time frame for a settlement of the Cyprus problem, which has defied over four decades of efforts to solve.

"We have in mind a time frame, but we also have in mind the unpleasant experience of the 2004 effort, outside interference and arbitration," said Anastasiades.

He was referring to a round of negotiations in Switzerland in February 2004 at which the United Nations and other arbitrators proposed a solution plan, which was subsequently rejected by the Greek Cypriots.

Anastasiades said a solution would be the most important reform for development, not only for Cyprus, but also for Turkey and other countries in the region.

"I want to believe that Turkey will recognize this prospect and will contribute to efforts for a settlement," said Anastasiades.

Turkey occupied over one third of Cyprus' soil in 1974, reacting to a coup by officers of the military junta then ruling Greece.

The Cyprus problem has held up Turkey's negotiations for acceding to the European Union as several negotiation chapters have been blocked because of its Cyprus policies.

The electoral win of the Turkish AK Party and the prospects of a single-party government in Turkey have removed concern in Nicosia that a coalition government torn by internal dissents would be an obstacle to a solution.

Anastasiades' remarks were made a few hours after he embarked on a round of intensified negotiations with Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci, under the auspices of a personal emissary of the United Nations Secretary General.

The two leaders will meet five more times this month in a bid to work out an agreement on the thorny issue of properties left behind by almost 200,000 Greek Cypriots who fled ahead of advancing Turkish troops in 1974.

This issue was taken up at a meeting on Monday night, but no announcements were made as to the outcome.

The state-run Cyprus News Agency said Anastasiades and Akinci would deal with all other aspects of the Cyprus issue, including power sharing and territorial adjustments at their next meeting on Thursday in an effort to eliminate remaining divergences.

It added that they would again deal with the property issue at a new meeting on Nov. 18. Endit