Rival Cyprus Leaders Achieve Talks Breakthrough

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, December 05, 2001

Rival Cyprus Leaders Achieve Talks Breakthrough

Rival leaders of bitterly divided Cyprus agreed in a breakthrough decision Tuesday to hold face-to-face negotiations on ending the Mediterranean island's 27-year division ahead of European Union membership.

The move was hailed as the best chance in decades to end the Cyprus standoff, which has kept NATO members Greece and Turkey at loggerheads and haunted Ankara's long-term dream of joining the EU.

It was capped by an agreement by Cypriot President Glafcos Clerides to go for the first time in decades to the north of the island -- occupied since 1974 by Turkish troops -- to have dinner with Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash Wednesday.

U.N. special envoy Alvaro de Soto said the two sides had agreed to hold a series of talks in mid-January on Cyprus.

"There will be no preconditions and all issues will be on the table," he said after a rare, brief meeting between Denktash and Clerides.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was "very pleased" with the agreement to start direct negotiations in mid-January, U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said in New York.

In Ankara, Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said the decision was a "pleasing development" that could bear fruit.

Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis also welcomed the move but was cautious about over-optimism.

Turkey invaded the northern part of Cyprus in 1974 in response to a short-lived coup engineered by the military junta then ruling Greece. It maintains a large garrison on the island and sponsors Denktash's breakaway state, which is recognized by no other country.

The decision to start direct negotiations marks a significant softening of the position of Denktash, who has previously demanded recognition as head of his breakaway state.

The agreement to talk came as EU membership nears for the island and nine other central and east European states, with Cyprus providing the thorniest political issue for the bloc because of the division between Greek and Turkish communities.

Pressure for a Cyprus settlement has increased on both sides with the EU's plan to complete negotiations with prospective candidates, including Clerides' internationally recognized government, next year for entry in 2004.

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