REUTERS
It has taken more than 40 years, an army of mediators and several near-misses, but there is genuine hope that when the leaders of ethnically divided Cyprus resume peace talks on Friday, one of the west’s longest-running diplomatic disputes can finally be resolved.
According to British newspaper The Guardian, in the biggest push in over a decade, Nicos Anastasiades, president of Greek southern sector, to meet Mustafa Akinci, new leader of the Turkish-occupied north of the island.
"This is a unique opportunity, an opportunity to be grasped," Espen Barth Eide, the UN envoy appointed to assist the talks, announced after the politicians had their first face-to-face contact over dinner earlier this week.
"They agreed it was important to use the momentum created, and opportunity, to move forward without delay," he said.
Eide, a former Norwegian foreign minister who is the UN secretary general’s special representative, says he does not expect Friday’s meeting, the first since talks were stalled last October, to go beyond a "general exchange of views." But in a major departure, highlighting the enthusiasm the talks have engendered, both leaders have agreed to personally participate in the process and meet regularly.
The litmus test, say experts, will be how quickly the two sides move ahead with confidence-building measures that can pave the way to a viable solution. While Greek Cypriots have long pressed for the opening of Varosha, their once-thriving resort in the north, Turkish Cypriots have pushed for the opening of Ercan international airport – a move that would help end the increasingly impoverished ministate’s global isolation.