Talks on the reunification of Cyprus reach a crucial point. Delegates say progress has been made and maps exchanged, but work remains.
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Talks in Geneva on the reunification of Cyprus have reached a crucial point. Greece has suggested Turkey has a 28.2 percent share of the island, while the Turkish delegation is pushing for 29.2 percent.
Each side has handed the UN maps with new boundary proposals.
The UN envoy to Cyprus said there was still work to do, but added that discussions to resolve its 42-year division are ‘on track’ and many contentious issues have been resolved.
Espen Barth Eide added:
“This is the best chance, and that I can not see anything that would suggest that the chance is getting any better by waiting four months or eight months, or two years, or forty-two years, or fifty-two years, as it has been tried before. There is simply nothing in the trend lines that I see internationally that suggests that the world is getting more, you know, constructive, that people are coming together more, that problems are more easily overcome, that we get the world leadership that is more helpful.”
As guarantor powers of Cyprus’s independence, the Greek, Turkish and British foreign ministers are expected to join discussions in the Swiss city on Thursday. There, they will discuss the security parametres of any deal.
The aim of the talks is to establish a two-state federation with both sides sharing power.