Cyprus talks to start at the end of June

Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders are expected to start the talks for the reunification of the island at the end of June, Turkish Cypriot leader said on Saturday. Mehmet Ali Talat also reitreted his optimism for solution efforts.

The election of new Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias gave a new impetus to efforts to find a solution to Cyprus issue. The technical committees held their first formal meeting on Friday to make preparations for the comprehensive negotiations.

A positive atmosphere has been prevailing on Cyprus now, and the leaders are endeavoring to help this atmosphere lead to a solution, Talat told in a speech at the opening of the second "Northern Cyprus Summit of European Parliamentarians of Turkish Origin."

He said working groups would submit reports to the leaders about the topics on which consensus could and could not be reached.

"We (Cypriot leaders) are going to meet after three months, at the end of July, and start comprehensive negotiations," Talat was quoted as saying by the state-run Anatolian Agency.

Talat and Christofias met on Mar 21 and decided to revive reunification talks as well as to open another crossing point in the capital Nicosia as a goodwill gesture. The reunification talks are stalled since 2004 when the Greek Cypriots rejected a UN blueprint. Turkish Cypriots had overwhelmingly approved the plan. The rival leaders will meet on May 7.

"The solution will not be easy. Both parties have indispensable wishes. We will be in an effort to eliminate them and believe that international community should assist on the matter," Talat added.

The international community welcomes the renewed efforts. The UN Security Council on Friday expressed hope they will lead to the reunification of the island, as the Europen Union said it would support all efforts.

The EU's Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn, said on Saturday the European Union would support all efforts that lead to a comprehensive solution coming from both Turkish and Greek parts, at his reply to motion brought to European Parliament regarding Cyprus, ANKA reported.

U.N. envoy takes pulse for Cyprus reunification bid

Senior United Nations official began three days of talks on Monday with Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders, taking the pulse for negotiations on reunifying the divided island, expected in three months' time.

A spokesman for the United Nations mission in Cyprus said Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe "is here to try to determine how the U.N. can best help the efforts of the parties to relaunch the process for negotiations".

Greek and Turkish Cypriots have been estranged since a Turkish invasion in 1974 triggered by a brief Greek inspired coup. Peace talks collapsed in 2004 when Greek Cypriots rejected a U.N. reunification blueprint accepted by Turkish Cypriots.

The Greek Cypriots represent Cyprus in the European Union and have a veto over the EU accession bid of Turkey, which keeps some 30,000 troops in north Cyprus.

Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias, elected president a month ago, has vowed to press ahead with reunification talks with Mehmet Ali Talat, the Turkish Cypriot leader.

"I'm always optimistic," Pascoe told reporters after a meeting with Christofias on Monday.

Both sides have agreed to resume peace talks by the end of June. Aides have launched
consultations on negotiation topics including property and territory disputes as part of preparation for talks.

The sides are in the meantime expected to dismantle a poignant symbol of decades of division when they open up the Ledra Street thoroughfare in the centre of divided capital Nicosia to pedestrians in early April.

The street runs across the east-west ceasefire line bisecting Nicosia and marks the spot where the first seeds of division were sown in the late 1950s, when Cyprus was still a British colony.

Cyprus' Cristofias ready for workable solution

Cypriot President Demetris Cristofias said on Wednesday that he was ready to reach a workable solution with Turkish Cypriots over the island's decades-old division.

"We want a workable solution as soon as possible," he told journalists ahead of a meeting on Friday with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat.

"At the same time, we believe it is not productive to act in haste without the necessary preparation that would allow progress to be achieved.

New window of opportunity opens for Cyprus problem

As Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders are preparing to resume stalled reunification talks on Friday, a new window of opportunity has opened for a solution to the decades-old Cyprus problem.

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, like all his predecessors, has offered to help the two communities on the eastern Mediterranean island move toward reunification.

"We hope that we will be able to see improvement and make some breakthrough in this long-pending issue in Europe," Ban said Monday.

The secretary-general said the international community should "seize the momentum and the window of opportunity" presented by Demetris Christofias' election in Cyprus and his commitment to the resolution of the issue.

Divided island with uncompromising parties

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey militarily intervened and occupied the northern third of the island followinga failed coup by a group of Greek officers who pushed for union with Greece.

In 1983, the Turkish Cypriot authorities declared a breakaway and set up "the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus," recognized only by Turkey.

The United Nations has been trying for several decades to persuade the two communities to find a viable solution to the issue.

In an April 2004 referendum, Greek Cypriots led by then hard line President Tassos Papadopoulos rejected a comprehensive settlement plan proposed by then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, arguing it would favor Turkey and Turkish Cypriots and hurt Greek Cypriots' rights.

The Greek Cypriot south joined the EU in May 2004 on behalf of the whole Republic of Cyprus, but the new member has been "in the EU doghouse," as Greek Cypriot journalist Jean Christou recently described.

Turkish Cypriots have said they do not want permanent partition, and welcomed the UN blueprint in the 2004 referendum.

Meanwhile, they have spared no effort to open trade offices overseas and strengthen ties within the Islamic world with the help of Ankara, in a bid to break what they call the "isolation" enforced by the Greek Cypriots.

New momentum by pro-solution president

Papadopoulos' uncompromising attitude towards the Cyprus problem cost him his re-election bid last month. Most Greek Cypriot voters have realized that the long impasse will only lead to permanent division.

Moreover, the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo,coinciding with the latest presidential election in Cyprus, underlined the urgency of settling the Cyprus issue.

Left-wing moderate Demetris Christofias replaced Papadopoulos as the new president and Greek Cypriot leader, and has pledged to make reunification his government's top priority.

Last week, Christofias met with EU leaders in Brussels on the sidelines of a European Council meeting, outlining his vision for a solution to the Cyprus issue, which was acknowledged by the 27-member bloc.

On the other side, Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, who met with Ban Ki-Moon last week in Senegal during a summit of the Organization of Islamic Conference, assured the UN chief of his commitment to revive the stalled negotiations.

Both leaders have indicated the possibility of announcing after their first meeting the opening of Ledra Street in the heart of the old walled city of Nicosia, bisected by the UN monitored Green Line since the 1960s following violence between the two communities.

Such a move of opening a crossing point on the busy commercial street will be regarded as a goodwill gesture from both sides.

Big challenges ahead

Cyprus gained independence from British colonial rule in 1960 and established a power-sharing constitution between the Turkish and Greek Cypriot communities.

The power sharing system collapsed in 1964 amid inter-communal violence. A UN peacekeeping force was sent to prevent further fighting in what has become one of its longest operations.

Since Turkish troops entered the north in 1974, the UN peacekeepers have been supervising ceasefire lines, maintaining a buffer zone and undertaking humanitarian activities.

Greek Cypriots feel the problem originated with the Turkish invasion and have called for a full and immediate withdrawal of the estimated 35,000 Turkish troops in the country.

But in the eyes of Turkish Cypriots, the problem is rooted in the bloody violence of the 1960s, when Greek Cypriot extremists attempted to drive the Turkish Cypriot minority out of the island to promote Enosis, the movement of the Greek-Cypriots to push for union with Greece.

The Greek Cypriots, rejecting the Annan plan, demand negotiations based on a procedure agreement reached by the two sides in July 2006.

But the Turkish Cypriots believe the Annan plan can help resolve many problems, and any negotiations for change need to be based on that plan.

They pursue a new partnership state based on "the political equality of the two peoples and the equal status of two constituent states", as Talat has reiterated.

Even if the first encounter between the two leaders goes well, full-fledged negotiations are not expected until a UN evaluation team headed by Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe visits the island.

Following his dialogue with all related parties scheduled for the beginning of April, Pascoe will report to the UN chief and to the Security Council for a decision on what role the UN can play to broker an agreement between the two communities.

When substantial negotiations kick off, a number of tough issues will appear on the table, including security, property, return of refugees, Turkish settlers and guarantor status.

Tens of thousands of Turkish settlers have arrived on the island since 1974. The Annan plan foresaw 40,000 returning to Turkey, which many Greek Cypriots considered too few.

The guarantor status, held by Britain, Turkey and Greece through the Treaty of Guarantee of 1960, gives the three countries the legal right to intervene in the island's affairs, based on which Turkey conducted its military intervention in 1974.

Greek Cypriots, on the other hand, view the colonial-style guarantors as unacceptable.

All these thorny issues require painful compromises from both communities as well as Turkey, to whom Talat, the Turkish Cypriot leader, has to defer.

However, this is the first time that the two communities have a pro-solution leader on each side, thus creating the possibility of an imminent resolution of the Cyprus problem.

Northern Cyprus FM Reacts To Greek Cyriot Leader For His Remarks Against Turkey

FM Turgay Avci of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) reacted Friday to Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Christofias, who talked about Turkey as "occupier."

"He (Christofias) should not forget that he owes his life to Turkey and the (Cyprus) Peace Operation as many other members of AKEL," he told.

Christofias was elected on February 24th and took office on February 28th.

Avci said Christofias talks about a federative solution but at the same time he demands destroying UN regulations and solution parameters.

"He has demands that will turn Turkish Cypriot people a minority in its own state, force them to migration and to leave island with an inhumane understanding," he said.

On the other hand, Avci said Turkish Cypriots are ready for a new partnership based on political equality of the two nations, bi-zonal structure, equal status of founder states, and effective and de facto guarantee of Turkey.

"We have set end of 2008 as a target, and motherland Turkey is supporting this stance. However, the statements of the Greek Cypriot administration indicates that this side is not ready to reach an agreement in a short time but is planning to maintain the status quo in order to gain time," he told.

Northern Cyprus's Nami To Meet Iacovou On Wednesday

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Mehmet Ali Talat's Special Representative Ozdil Nami is expected to meet George Iacovou,commissioner of the Greek Cypriot administration, on Wednesday.

Nami and Iacovou will meet for preparation of the talks expected to take place between Talat and Greek Cypriot administration leader Demetris Christofias between March 17th and 24th.

Drought-hit Cyprus seeks water from Lebanon

The drought-hit Mediterranean island of Cyprus will seek to import water from Lebanon rather have to impose usage restrictions, the agriculture ministure said on Friday.

"One key measure we are looking at is the transportation of water in tankers from a neighbouring country, and our efforts are focusing on Lebanon," Michalis Polynikis told reporters after holding a crisis meeting on Friday.

He said experts are now examining the feasibility of shipping large quantities of water by tanker from Lebanon, with a final decision expected within 10 days.

Polynikis said Lebanon is willing to give Cyprus large quantities of water free of charge, so the only cost would be transportation. There is also the logistics of getting the water from the ports to a reservoir once it arrives by ship.

Crisis talks were held to find ways to survive a chronic water shortage brought on by a two-year drought and unseasonal warm weather.

Polynikis said he was searching for the "least painful" alternative for Cypriot citizens.

Another option under review is imposing water quotas for every household and those found exceeding the limit being charged a premium.

Although opposed to water cuts, Polynikis said a quota system on consumption would "send the message to ordinary people that they must conserve water".

A regime of on-the-spot fines for water wasters seems to have failed to raise awareness over the island's dwindling water resources.

Cyprus's reservoirs are now at only 10.4 percent of capacity, down from 25.6 percent this time last year.

Rainfall for the winter months is well below the average expected for the period, with precipitation failing to reach 50 percent of the norm.

As part of a longer-term solution to the holiday island's water problems the government plans to build more desalination plants and bolster output from existing ones.

After April, heavy rain is not expected before October.