Cypriots back at peace talks

– Rival Cypriot leaders met yesterday to resume efforts to solve one of the world’s longest-running political crises in what the island’s UN envoy billed as the “best chance” for peace.

The make-or-break talks in Switzerland are geared towards ending the decades-old division of the island and striking a lasting deal between its Greek and Turkish-speaking communities.

Despite a daunting list of unresolved disputes, UN envoy Espen Barth Eide said he was confident on the eve of the talks.

“It’s a unique opportunity, because after all of these decades of division it is possible to solve,” he said in Geneva.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded the northern third of the island in response to an Athens-inspired coup attempt seeking union with Greece. Turkey still maintains more than 35 000 troops in Cyprus and Nicosia remains Europe’s last divided capital.

The talks in January failed to make any headway, and Eide himself warned “it is not going to be easy and there is no guarantee of success”.

President Nicos Anastasiades, the Greek Cypriot leader who heads the island’s internationally-recognised government, and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart Mustafa Akinci are giving it another go starting yesterday in the Swiss mountain resort of Crans-Montana.

They will be joined by the foreign ministers from the so-called guarantor powers of Cyprus – Greece, Turkey and Britain – along with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.

Topping the agenda is a new security arrangement for a post-settlement federal Cyprus. This would involve the guarantor powers, which retain the right of military intervention.

The presence of Turkish troops on the island was a major sticking point in previous peace attempts but signs were pointing to a potential breakthrough after a diplomatic source said Ankara was ready to propose slashing its military presence by 80%, said the source.

Eide said the two sides were “basically done” on four other chapters being discussed, revolving around governance and power-sharing, property, economy and EU matters. Eide said that “many Cypriots are aware the status quo is not guaranteed”.

UN chief Antonio Guterres, who may attend the talks, said in New York on Tuesday the chance to reunify Cyprus “is now finally before us”.

But some analysts doubt that the two sides can broach considerable gaps in how a unified Cyprus would actually function. “What we can hope for is progress on the security chapter,” said Hubert Faustmann of the University of Nicosia. “Anything less” than a security deal for some Turkish troops to remain on the island would be rejected by Ankara “and the conference will fail”. – AFP