Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders finalize power-sharing chapter
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders completed their debate on the "administration and power-sharing" chapter during their meeting on Friday under the full-fledged talks aiming to reunify the divided island of Cyprus. (UPDATED)
Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat and his Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias held their 16th meeting in at the buffer zone in
The two leaders had fruitful talks especially after the positive atmosphere achieved during their latest meeting on Monday, Alexander Downer, special Cyprus envoy of the U.N. secretary-general, was quoted by Anatolian Agency as saying in a statement following the leaders' meeting.
Downer said representatives of the two leaders and experts would now give the final touches to the "administration and power-sharing" chapter, and afterwards, the two leaders will meet again on January 28.
"There are issues where we have achieved progress, there are issues that still remain open and those were there is disagreement," he added, without elaborating.
Talat and Christofias are expected to start discussing the "Property" issue during their upcoming gathering.
Talat and Christofias began peace talks in last September after a four-year hiatus, marking the first major push for peace since the failure of a U.N. reunification plan in 2004, which was approved by Turkish Cypriots but overwhelmingly rejected by Greek Cypriots.
Neither side sees permanent partition as an option, but they have been unable to agree on how the island will be reunited. On paper, they agree to a bizonal federation, though issues like power-sharing, territorial swaps and a raft of complex property disputes make a deal difficult.
"There is a real possibility of reaching a settlement here," Downer separately told Reuters on Friday, but cautioned it was a complex task.
"It is an incredibly difficult task, nobody should under-estimate how hard it is after so many years and such deep conflict .. but days like today just help to confirm the view that I'm cautiously optimistic," he added.
Downer said he did not want to put a timeframe on when a deal could be brokered. "It wouldn't be helpful for the negotiations to impose a timeline on them, I think that would not help to achieve a solution," he said.
The U.N. sees 2009 as the last chance to cut a deal on the island. Officials have warned both sides that the U.N. would not mediate if the leaders fail to reach an agreement by the end of 2009 and that it would end its efforts to solve the problem. Talat met Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Friday. The Turkish Cypriot leader is set to receive an honorary medal from the Joint Administration of Turkic Arts and Culture (TURKSOY) as part of the celebrations marking the 15th anniversary of the institution, Anatolian Agency reported.