Greek, Turkish Cypriots on verge of resuming peace talks

Estranged Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities were reported on Wednesday to be just a step away from resuming talks to reunify the eastern Mediterranean island. After four months of wrangling over the drafting on a joint declaration setting out the basic lines of a solution, Cyprus government spokesman Christos Stylianides said the two sides are very close to preparing a text that will pave the way for a new round of talks on a Cyprus solution. Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides also told the state broadcaster that the two sides are close to concluding a joint declaration that eluded UN mediators for four months. In a move indicating an impending announcement expected to be made within the next few days by a UN Secretary General's envoy, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades will convene a meeting of party leaders on Thursday to brief them on the developments. Anastasiades will then fly to Athens for consultations on Friday with Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos. The Cyprus problem, as it came to be known, defied repeated rounds of negotiations under UN supervision, which started soon after Turkey sent its troops to Cyprus in response to a 1974 coup by Greek army officers. The talks were discontinued by the Turkish side since July 2012, when Cyprus assumed the 6-monthly rotating presidency of the European Union (EU). They were then put off for a further 8 months in the wake of presidential elections in Cyprus and an economic crisis which culminated in the re-shaking of the island's oversized banking system in a world-first bail-in, the recapitalization of the island's biggest lender with depositors' money. The United Nations called for the resumption of the negotiations in October 2013, but the two sides disagreed on the procedure. The Greek side demanded a joint declaration to be read by a UN official at the start of the negotiations clearly stating that a future federal Cypriot state will have a single sovereignty, a single citizenship and a single international representation. Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu, however, insisted on a two state solution with each constituent state having a separate sovereignty, meaning each state would have a right to enter into bilateral treaties with foreign countries. The deadlock over restarting the Cyprus negotiations stood in the way of Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's aspirations to promote accession negotiations with the EU. Erdogan called Turkish Cypriot officials in Ankara late in January, reportedly to admonish them to be more forthcoming on the text of a joint declaration leading to peace negotiations. Kasoulides acknowledged that the breakthrough came when U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland visited Cyprus on Tuesday and had talks with Anastasiades and Eroglu. "The American diplomacy had been very helpful in securing an agreement," Kasoulides said. Nuland had been in Athens on Monday where she had talks with Venizelos.