Post by depletedreasons on Jan 4, 2008 7:37:24 GMT -5
Turkey to urge U.N. to revive Cyprus peace bid
ANKARA: Turkey's president said on Thursday he would urge U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to revive the stalled Cyprus peace process in talks next week.
Diplomatic efforts to end the decades-old partition of Cyprus have been largely on hold since Greek Cypriots rejected a U.N. blueprint in 2004 to reunite the Mediterranean island.
The division of Cyprus into an internationally recognised Greek Cypriot south and a breakaway Turkish Cypriot enclave in the north threatens to block Turkey's drive to join the European Union.
"I will ask the U.N. to be more active, to start new efforts for a comprehensive solution to the Cyprus problem," President Abdullah Gul told a joint news conference with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat.
Gul, who will hold talks with U.S. President George W. Bush next week in Washington before meeting Ban in New York, said 2008 offered a new opportunity for Cyprus because of a Greek Cypriot presidential election set for February 17.
President Tassos Papadopoulos, who is seeking re-election, led his community into rejecting the 2004 U.N. peace plan one week before the island joined the EU as a divided country.
Papadopoulos has blocked EU efforts to ease trade restrictions against the Turkish Cypriots, fearing this could lead to de facto diplomatic recognition of their enclave.
The EU has frozen membership negotiations with Turkey in eight policy areas due to Ankara's refusal to open its ports and airports to Greek Cypriot traffic.
"Whoever wins the election, initiatives will be taken (to revive peace talks). These initiatives will determine the fate of the Cyprus issue," Talat told the news conference.
Cyprus has been split on ethnic lines since Turkey invaded the north of the island in 1974 after a Greek Cypriot coup backed by the military junta then ruling Greece. Ankara keeps some 35,000 troops in northern Cyprus.
Last year, aware of his predecessor Kofi Annan's failure to break the Cyprus deadlock, Ban sounded a cautious note about restarting peace talks, saying both sides needed first to show a firm commitment to a solution.
(Reporting by Evren Mesci, writing by Gareth Jones; editing by Elizabeth Piper)
www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2008/01/03/europe/OUKWD-UK-TURKEY-CYPRUS-UN.php
ANKARA: Turkey's president said on Thursday he would urge U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to revive the stalled Cyprus peace process in talks next week.
Diplomatic efforts to end the decades-old partition of Cyprus have been largely on hold since Greek Cypriots rejected a U.N. blueprint in 2004 to reunite the Mediterranean island.
The division of Cyprus into an internationally recognised Greek Cypriot south and a breakaway Turkish Cypriot enclave in the north threatens to block Turkey's drive to join the European Union.
"I will ask the U.N. to be more active, to start new efforts for a comprehensive solution to the Cyprus problem," President Abdullah Gul told a joint news conference with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat.
Gul, who will hold talks with U.S. President George W. Bush next week in Washington before meeting Ban in New York, said 2008 offered a new opportunity for Cyprus because of a Greek Cypriot presidential election set for February 17.
President Tassos Papadopoulos, who is seeking re-election, led his community into rejecting the 2004 U.N. peace plan one week before the island joined the EU as a divided country.
Papadopoulos has blocked EU efforts to ease trade restrictions against the Turkish Cypriots, fearing this could lead to de facto diplomatic recognition of their enclave.
The EU has frozen membership negotiations with Turkey in eight policy areas due to Ankara's refusal to open its ports and airports to Greek Cypriot traffic.
"Whoever wins the election, initiatives will be taken (to revive peace talks). These initiatives will determine the fate of the Cyprus issue," Talat told the news conference.
Cyprus has been split on ethnic lines since Turkey invaded the north of the island in 1974 after a Greek Cypriot coup backed by the military junta then ruling Greece. Ankara keeps some 35,000 troops in northern Cyprus.
Last year, aware of his predecessor Kofi Annan's failure to break the Cyprus deadlock, Ban sounded a cautious note about restarting peace talks, saying both sides needed first to show a firm commitment to a solution.
(Reporting by Evren Mesci, writing by Gareth Jones; editing by Elizabeth Piper)
www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2008/01/03/europe/OUKWD-UK-TURKEY-CYPRUS-UN.php