Off the wire
• Latvian Supreme Court asked to rule on disputed rich people's tax  • 2nd LD: Two police officers dead as attackers storm Bangladesh restaurant, take hostages  • News Analysis: Brexit, migration to prove challenges for Slovak EU presidency  • Wales 1 Belgium 1 - halftime  • Oil prices rise on weaker dollar  • Pakistan, India exchange lists of prisoners  • U.S. dollar falls as rate-hike expectation dims  • Over 600 people killed in violence, armed conflict in Iraq in June, UN warns  • Wales 1 Belgium 1 - latest  • 1st LD: Police officer dead as attackers open fire after taking hostages at restaurant in Bangladesh    
You are here: 　 Home

Cypriot community leaders acknowledge they hit hard ground in reunification negotiations

Xinhua, July 2, 2016 Adjust font size:

The leaders of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities inching towards a solution reunifying their partitioned country acknowledged that they have come against hard ground in their negotiations on Friday.

"I cannot say that we have gone a great distance in discussing the properties issue...We cannot say that we have wiped out our differences," said Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci after yet another negotiating session with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, who is acting as leader of the Greek Cypriot community.

He said that there have been many changes on the ground 42 years after Turkish troops occupied the northern part of Cyprus in reaction to a coup by the military rulers of Greece, driving out of their homes and properties about one third of the Greek Cypriots.

Anastasiades and Akinci are trying to decide the future of these properties.

They have decided that the owners of the properties will be given priority in deciding whether they want their properties back or opt for other property or for compensation.

They also set down a list of criteria on what to do if there are conflicting claims, including the degree to which properties have been changed by development.

"Despite progress achieved so far and the good atmosphere of the negotiations, there are still substantive differences on the properties issue...It is one of the toughest chapters in the negotiations," said Anastasiades.

He added that the differences center on who will have rights on the properties, who should be excluded from raising claims, how to estimate the development of properties and how important it is relative to the original property.

Anastasiades also said that things are getting even more difficult as the properties issue is closely related to the territory Turkey will have to return to Greek Cypriots.

Anastasiades and Akinci have said they aim at concluding a solution by the end of this year, with their next six meetings in July being crucial to the outcome of the process.

Anastasiades said on Thursday while receiving the credentials of foreign diplomats, that despite remaining divergences he is confident that rapid progress will be made in the coming months leading to a solution by the end of 2016. Enditem