Cyprus peace talks under way in New York

The Cyprus talks, convened by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday, entered its second day in New York as the world body is seeking an accord on reunifying the long divided island, a UN spokesman told reporters here Monday. Martin Nesirky, the UN spokesman, said at a daily news briefing that "the secretary-general is meeting with the leaders of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities in Greentree, Long Island, (New York,) again on Monday." Following the first day of talks on Sunday, the secretary- general's special adviser Alexander Downer told reporters that the secretary-general instituted substantive discussions on four core issues: governance and power-sharing; property; territory and citizenship. These core issues have stumbled the reunification process. Cypriot President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu met with the secretary-general in New York on Sunday in a bid to seal a deal to end the division of the eastern Mediterranean island within the next six months. Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when the Turkish military intervened and occupied the island's north following a coup by a group of Greek officers.