UN official urges efforts to restart Cyprus talks

Steps will be taken in the coming days to overcome a crisis that led to the suspension of negotiations to reunify Cyprus, a United Nations official said on Saturday.

Espen Barth Eide, the UN Secretary General's special adviser on Cyprus, made the statement after a three-hour meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci.

He also said the coming weeks will decide not only the fate of the negotiations process, but will also give an answer to the question whether the island will be re-united.

Akinci pulled out of the negotiations after 22 months in which unprecedented progress was achieved to settle one of the longest-standing international problems.

Before meeting Eide, Akinci said he would stay away from the negotiations with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades until the Greek Cypriot side "corrects" a vote by parliament to commemorate the anniversary of a 1950 referendum in which they expressed their wish to unite with Greece.

Eide said on Friday after meeting Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades that the negotiations were interrupted over "by what is essentially an issue outside of the talks themselves".

Eide stated that after meeting both leaders it has become clear what it has to be done. "The next few days will see steps which will be helpful," he added.

He said both community leaders remained committed to finding a way out and quickly proceeding forward with the negotiations.

He said he could not say whether an international conference on Cyprus in Geneva which had been scheduled in March would be convened for the time being.

"I would not like to create expectations for March but we still aim at convening a conference," said Eide.

A UN spokesman said in New York on Friday that the UN remains committed to facilitating the leaders' efforts to reach a comprehensive settlement as soon as possible. Endit