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Roundup: Stalled Cyprus peace negotiations to resume after protocol slip up

Xinhua, May 28, 2016 Adjust font size:

Stalled Cyprus peace negotiations will resume after the United Nations offered explanations about a protocol slip up that implied recognition of a breakaway state in the occupied part of Cyprus, the Cypriot government said on Friday.

Government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides said in a written statement that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called President Nicos Anastasiades telling him that the UN recognizes only the Cyprus Republic and its government under Anastasiades.

The Cypriot president pulled out of a meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci scheduled for Friday and canceled a meeting with a UN official after Akinci's presence at an official dinner in Istanbul which was offered to world leaders attending the World Humanitarian Summit.

Anastasiades also cut short his stay in Turkey.

"The Secretary General told the president that the United Nations policy on Cyprus has not changed, including the fact that the Republic of Cyprus is the member state of the UN," Christodoulides said.

He added that following the clarifications offered by Ban Ki-moon, Anastasiades is ready to continue and intensify the dialogue, provided that there will be mutual respect between the interlocutors.

The UN is expected to move soon to schedule new negotiating sessions.

Christodoulides said Anastasiades expressed satisfaction with Ban's initiative to call him and personally offer clarifications.

The United Nations issued a statement on the secretary general's call to Anastasiades, stating that "the bi-communal dialogue under UN auspices aims at reaching a settlement of the Cyprus issue based on relevant UN Security Council resolutions."

"The secretary general encourages the two leaders to intensify their efforts towards reunifying Cyprus, in a climate of mutual respect, in order to bring an end to the unacceptable status quo, in the interest of all Cypriots," the statement read.

Anastasiades and Akinci started negotiations on the four-decade old Cyprus problem over a year ago and hoped to conclude a peace agreement by the end of the year.

Their target is to reunify under a federal umbrella the eastern Mediterranean island that was partitioned when Turkey occupied its northern part 1974, reacting to a coup by the military rulers of Greece at the time. Enditem