Cypriot leaders set date for reunification talks

Cypriot leaders set date for reunification talks

· Discussions already under way on security issues
· Hotline to be established between two offices

• Helena Smith in Athens
• The Guardian,
• Saturday July 26 2008
• Article history

The leaders of Cyprus's Greek and Turkish communities agreed yesterday to hold face-to-face peace talks to reunite the western world's last divided country.

Demetris Christofias, who heads the island's majority Greek population, said he and the Turkish Cypriot leader, Mehmet Ali Talat, would start direct negotiations on September 3. The announcement came days after the 34th anniversary of the Turkish invasion that split the island, leaving Greeks and Turks entrenched behind a UN-patrolled ceasefire line.

"I think this is a step forward, a positive development," said President Christofias after the meeting. "There is a lot we agree on, a lot we disagree on, it's all a matter of a constructive stance."

Five months ago the prospect of the two sides launching fully fledged talks seemed a world away. Peace negotiations collapsed in 2004 when Greek Cypriots, encouraged by their former president Tassos Papadopoulos, roundly rejected what was widely seen as the most sophisticated reunification plan. Turkish Cypriots, whose state is only recognised by Turkey, almost overwhelmingly accepted the blueprint.

But the election to the presidency in February this year of the moderate Christofias after five years of uncompromising rule under the nationalist Papadopoulos immediately injected new momentum into the search for a solution.