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Roundup: Cypriot leaders request fresh reunification summit

Xinhua, February 2, 2017 Adjust font size:

The leaders of the estranged Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities asked the United Nations to continue reunification efforts in consultation with guarantor countries Greece, Turkey and Britain, a statement by the UN mission in Cyprus said on Wednesday.

The statement, issued by United Nations Secretary General's personal emissary on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide, also said that Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci agreed to meet once each week through February to try to eliminate remaining divergences.

"The leaders requested the United Nations to prepare, in consultation with the guarantor powers, for the continuation of the conference on Cyprus at a political level in early March," Eide's statement said.

"They underscored their strong resolve and determination to maintain the current momentum," it added.

Anastasiades and Akinci, along with the foreign ministers of the guarantor powers and a European Union delegation, tried in January to overcome outstanding issues in Geneva, but only went as far as putting on record their respective views on the thorny issue of security after a Cyprus solution.

Eide had said in earlier statements that technocrats, who were tasked to seek "instruments" to break the deadlock, put on paper diametrically opposed positions.

Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots want the continuation of guarantee rights given under the 1960 treaties that established Cyprus as an independent state, according to reports.

They also reportedly want the stationing on Cyprus of Turkish troops who occupied the northern part of the eastern Mediterranean island in a 1974 operation in reaction to a Greek-inspired coup.

The Greek Cypriot side, according to reports, wants the current system of guarantees which was invoked by Turkey to legally justify its 1974 military action to be dismantled and replaced by a new system that would not be a threat to either community.

Eide said he believed that despite the impasse, there had been progress in that the issue of security and guarantees had been discussed for the first time in 42 years of negotiations and Turkey said it was willing to negotiate a change of the guarantees system.

The decision to seek a reconvening of the Geneva conference in March came as a surprise. Political analysts point out that it comes in the middle of a period of high tensions in the relations between Greece and Turkey over a decision by Greece's top court not to allow the extradition of eight officers to be tried on charges related to Junes failed coup.

Anastasiades on Wednesday conceded he was worried by tensions in Greek-Turkey relations. "But I want to hope that the problems will be overcome," he added. Endit