Cyprus leaders to hold third meeting of second round of talks

Cyprus President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat will hold tomorrow their third meeting of the second phase of UN-led talks for a Cyprus settlement, divided since the Turkish invasion of 1974.

Christofias and Talat will discuss bridging proposals on territory, one of the six chapters of the Cyprus problem.

During the last meeting on September 17, according to President Christofias, the Turkish Cypriot side has shifted from its original positions on the executive, while according to UN SG Special Representative to Cyprus, Taye-Brook Zerihoun, the two leaders have decided that their representatives and experts will meet to discuss the proposals that have been submitted by each side on the executive, “with a view to narrow differences or to come up with bridging ideas”.

Furthermore, the leaders also decided to accelerate the pace of the talks by holding two meetings weekly. President Christofias and Talat will also hold a new meeting on October 8 and another two meetings on 14 and 15 October respectively.

President Christofias and Talat began UN-led direct talks with a view to reach a mutually agreed solution to the Cyprus problem. So far they had 42 meetings and have recently entered the second phase of the talks in a bid to hold the ''second reading'' of the six chapters of the Cyprus problem, that is, Governance and power-sharing, property, territory, Economic matters, EU matters and Security.