Cypriot leaders meet for first time in 2 years

President of the Republic of Cyprus and leader of the Greek Cypriot community Tassos Papadopoulos and leader of the Turkish Cypriot community Mehmet Ali Talat meet on Monday morning for the first time since the failed referendum to reunite the island.

The two men will meet at the residence of the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative in Cyprus, Michael Moller, in the UN-controlled buffer zone, near Nicosia airport.

The meeting takes place on the occasion of the assumption of the offices of the newly appointed third member of the Committee of Missing Persons (CMP), Christophe Girod, who has already had separate meetings with President Papadopoulos and Talat.

Little of substance is expected to be discussed between the two men, although the UN has been working hard to try to broker another meeting later this week.

More than four decades after inter-communal fighting first broke out between the two sides, the fate of many missing remains unknown, owing to an inability of the two sides to co-operate in the matter.

According to press information, the tripartite CMP, which also comprises representatives of the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot communities, is due to convene in its new composition, on July 7th.

Exhumations of remains of missing persons are scheduled to continue in August in the Turkish occupied areas as well as in the government controlled part of Cyprus. Remains, to be identified through the DNA process, will be returned to the next of kin.