A month after Greek and Turkish Cypriots in divided Cyprus started reunification talks, diplomats are frustrated at the slow pace of negotiations which could make or break Turkey's bid to join the European Union.
Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat and Cypriot President Demetris Christofias began talks on Sept. 3 amid high international hopes of healing wounds on the island partitioned by war and intercommunal conflict. There have been three rounds of negotiations and a fourth is slated for Oct. 10.
"It's not fatigue, it's something a bit short of disappointment. Maybe we were a little too optimistic before," said a diplomat close to consultations between the two moderate leaders.
"I think we would need some indication pretty soon that this process is producing some results," the diplomat said.
Neither side has appeared to yield on positions which have kept Cyprus divided since a Turkish invasion in 1974 triggered by a brief Greek-inspired coup, though both acknowledge the present situation is untenable.
"There is no spectacular progress (which is) not to say no progress at all," Christofias told journalists on Sunday.
"I can't say I'm pessimistic, we have just started … I'm going to remain cautiously optimistic even though I get frustrated too sometimes, it's natural."
Divided by arguments over territory, property, governance and power-sharing, the leaders will continue discussions on the latter two issues this Friday.
"That was supposed to be one of the least challenging topics. At this pace we are looking at meetings dragging on until the summer," another western diplomat told Reuters.
In a sign of the importance the international community has vested in the process, heavyweights have started to weigh in. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa and former Algerian Foreign Minister Lakhdar Brahimi will be in Cyprus on Oct. 8-9.
"It's a reminder that a solution has a wider influence in the region and that for the sake of peace we have to be more flexible," said Ozdil Nami, senior adviser to Talat.
The Cyprus impasse hampers defence cooperation between the European Union and NATO. EU-member Cyprus, represented in the bloc by its Greek Cypriots, can obstruct Turkey's bid to join the Union.
But diplomats worry that after three rounds of talks, and several preparatory meetings, the tone of interlocutors has not changed. They cite public statements by both leaders, which have riled the other and given fodder to an information-hungry media.
"It makes the negotiation more difficult," said the western diplomat.
