Cyprus leaders could meet in March -UN

The leaders of the Greek and Turkish communities on divided Cyprus are expected to meet later this month to discuss ways to relaunch reunification talks, the top U.N. envoy said on Monday.

“I will start preparations for that meeting, probably towards the end of the second half of this month,” U.N. resident representative Michael Moller told reporters after meeting Greek-Cypriot President Demetris Christofias.

It will be the first meeting between Turkish-Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat and the Greek-Cypriot leader since Christofias won presidential elections on Feb 24, pledging to push for a settlement which has defied mediation for decades.

“I had a very good meeting with President Christofias and (he) told me he is very keen and ready to meet with Mr Talat as soon as possible, and he has asked me to continue working on that,” Moller said.

Christofias was elected on a tide of public discontent with the policies of his predecessor, Tassos Papadopoulos, who had led Greek Cypriots in rejecting a U.N. reunification plan in 2004 and had not, critics charged, made any real attempt to break a deadlock since then.

Cyprus was divided in a 1974 Turkish invasion which followed a brief Greek-inspired coup.

Cyprus entered the European Union in May 2004 as a divided island. Its partition is hampering Turkey’s ambitions to join the EU, which recognises the Greek-Cypriot government in the south.

An incremental approach to confidence building — outlined in a July 2006 deal brokered by the U.N. — has not been implemented because of disputes over the agenda.