CYPRUS: UNITED NATIONS ENVOY HOPES FOR POSITIVE RESULT IN OPENING TALKS OF CYPRUS PEACE TALKS

Record ID: 338059

  • Title: CYPRUS: UNITED NATIONS ENVOY HOPES FOR POSITIVE RESULT IN OPENING TALKS OF CYPRUS PEACE TALKS
  • Date: 19th February 2004
  • Summary: (W5) NICOSIA, CYPRUS (FEBRUARY 19, 2004) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. VARIOUS OF TURKISH CYPRIOT LEADER RAUF DENKTASH AND U.N. ENVOY ALVARO DE SOTO WALKING TOGETHER 0.15 2. VARIOUS OF MEETING (6 SHOTS) 0.54 3. SLV DE SOTO AND PAPADOPOULOS LEAVING MEETINGS 1.09 4. WIDE OF CAMERAMEN 1,14 5. CLOSE OF CAMERA 1.18 5. SMV
  • Embargoed: 5th March 2004 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: NICOSIA, CYPRUS
  • Country: Cyprus
  • Reuters ID: LVA3EIO4JZCP57M2ZM7BBDUU7SN7
  • Story Text: U.N. envoy cites a positive end to opening talks in
    Nicosia between Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders.



    Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders trying to unite
    Cyprus ended opening talks on Thursday (February 19) marred
    by a bomb outside the home of the pro-reunification prime
    minister of the island's Turkish enclave.

    The percussion grenade or "sound bomb" outside Turkish
    Cypriot Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat's home just hours
    before he took part in the talks shattered windows and
    damaged his front door but nobody was hurt.

    U.N. officials in charge of the long-dormant talks said
    the early morning blast had no effect on two hours of
    discussions that aim to unite the Greek and Turkish
    communities before the island joins the European Union on
    May 1.

    "A business-like spirit was shown by the two sides,"
    said U.N. envoy Alvaro de Soto, a Peruvian who brokered
    peace accords which ended civil strife in El Salvador.

    Greek Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos and Turkish
    Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash met at an abandoned airport
    compound used by U.N. peacekeepers for what has been billed
    as the best chance to end three decades of bitter division.

    De Soto said the two leaders would meet daily for the
    foreseeable future.

    The U.N. timetable calls for the Greek and Turkish
    Cypriot leaders to negotiate until March 22, when Greece
    and Turkey are likely to join in until March 29. The final
    plan would go to referendums in both parts of Cyprus on
    April 21.

    Failure to reach a deal will mean only the Greek
    Cypriot south joins the EU, and Turkey knows its efforts to
    start its own membership talks could hinge on the Cyprus
    peace process.

    In a sign of the importance of the talks for the
    European Union, EU Enlargement Commissioner Guenter
    Verheugen met Denktash and Papadopoulos at the end their
    session.

    The wealthier Greek Cypriots, who enjoy international
    recognition, make up 80 percent of the population of less
    than one million and control about 60 percent of the
    territory.

    Sources close to the talks said that in the first
    meeting both leaders laid out changes they wanted to a U.N.

    blueprint for reunification in a loose power-sharing
    federation.

    The issues involved territory trade-offs, return of
    refugees and a gradual scaling down of Greek and Turkish
    forces on the heavily militarised Mediterranean island.

    The division of Cyprus dates back to a Turkish invasion
    of the north of the island in 1974, sparked by a Greek
    Cypriot coup backed by the military junta then ruling
    Greece.

    After several days of rises on the Cyprus and Turkish
    stock exchanges, markets fell back slightly in both
    countries on profit taking now the talks were under way
    successfully.




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