<$The leaders of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities have welcomed a new UN initiative that could lead to the revival of comprehensive Cyprus peace talks next year.
The UN has sent a letter to the leaders of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities, proposing a set of practical measures to pave the way for the resumption of the Cyprus reunification talks before the end of March 2007.
Greek Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos said on Sunday (November 19th) that he had responded positively to the document, sent three days earlier by UN Undersecretary-general for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari.
The three-page letter reportedly recommends steps to speed up the implementation of a deal Papadopoulos and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat reached in July, but with little progress to date.
Under the July 8th agreement, brokered by Gambari, the two sides were to start two-tier negotiations on substantial and practical day-to-day issues as a first step towards the eventual revival of the Cyprus peace talks.
The latest international effort to end the Mediterranean island's more than 30-year old division ended in failure in April 2004, when Greek Cypriots overwhelmingly rejected the Cyprus reunification plan proposed by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. While the majority of Turkish Cypriots approved the blueprint, only the internationally recognised, Greek-run south of the island eventually joined the EU in May of that year.
"While expressing sincere gratitude to you for leadership, flexibility and courage that you showed in reaching the July 8 agreement, I would like to draw attention to the fact that it has been more than four months since then," the Cyprus Mail quoted Gambari's letter as reading.
As a first step, he proposed that the working groups of experts tasked with discussing substantial political issues and the technical committees discussing practical day-to-day issues should start drawing up a list of subjects for discussion.
Seven days after the groups have begun work and provided they have carried out their initial tasks, a meeting between Papadopoulos and Talat should take place, Gambari suggested. Subsequently, the two leaders should meet at least every four weeks to assess the progress made.
If satisfactory progress is achieved, the UN secretary general eventually could decide to re-launch formal negotiations, the letter said.
Turkish Cypriot spokesman Hasan Ercakica said on Friday that the Turkish Cypriots welcomed Gambari's new initiative.
Talat, meanwhile, met with Annan in Geneva on Monday. Speaking to reporters afterwards, the outgoing secretary-general said the UN wishes to see "actions from both sides that close the gap between words and deeds".
For his part, Talat said he hoped Greek and Turkish Cypriots would resume "full-fledged negotiations in the near future" on the reunification of the island.
"We will act with all our goodwill," he said. "We are very genuine and we really want the unification of the island and we will do our best."
The UN has sent a letter to the leaders of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities, proposing a set of practical measures to pave the way for the resumption of the Cyprus reunification talks before the end of March 2007.
Greek Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos said on Sunday (November 19th) that he had responded positively to the document, sent three days earlier by UN Undersecretary-general for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari.
The three-page letter reportedly recommends steps to speed up the implementation of a deal Papadopoulos and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat reached in July, but with little progress to date.
Under the July 8th agreement, brokered by Gambari, the two sides were to start two-tier negotiations on substantial and practical day-to-day issues as a first step towards the eventual revival of the Cyprus peace talks.
The latest international effort to end the Mediterranean island's more than 30-year old division ended in failure in April 2004, when Greek Cypriots overwhelmingly rejected the Cyprus reunification plan proposed by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. While the majority of Turkish Cypriots approved the blueprint, only the internationally recognised, Greek-run south of the island eventually joined the EU in May of that year.
"While expressing sincere gratitude to you for leadership, flexibility and courage that you showed in reaching the July 8 agreement, I would like to draw attention to the fact that it has been more than four months since then," the Cyprus Mail quoted Gambari's letter as reading.
As a first step, he proposed that the working groups of experts tasked with discussing substantial political issues and the technical committees discussing practical day-to-day issues should start drawing up a list of subjects for discussion.
Seven days after the groups have begun work and provided they have carried out their initial tasks, a meeting between Papadopoulos and Talat should take place, Gambari suggested. Subsequently, the two leaders should meet at least every four weeks to assess the progress made.
If satisfactory progress is achieved, the UN secretary general eventually could decide to re-launch formal negotiations, the letter said.
Turkish Cypriot spokesman Hasan Ercakica said on Friday that the Turkish Cypriots welcomed Gambari's new initiative.
Talat, meanwhile, met with Annan in Geneva on Monday. Speaking to reporters afterwards, the outgoing secretary-general said the UN wishes to see "actions from both sides that close the gap between words and deeds".
For his part, Talat said he hoped Greek and Turkish Cypriots would resume "full-fledged negotiations in the near future" on the reunification of the island.
"We will act with all our goodwill," he said. "We are very genuine and we really want the unification of the island and we will do our best."
