UN Security Council Supports Peace Process on CyprusThe United Nations Security Council on Monday, December 11, voiced its full support to the intention of the UN secretary-general to continue with the Cyprus peace process.The move came after the 15-member Security Council was briefed by Alvaro de Soto, the UN special envoy on Cyprus, on the latest development in the peace talks on the island. Sergei Lavrov of Russia, council president for the month, told the press that the council also gave its support to the secretary- general's efforts to achieve a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem. He urged the parties concerned to cooperate fully with those efforts. The ongoing Cyprus peace process was initiated by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in November 1999. Annan has invited Glafcos Clerides, president of Cyprus and leader of the Cypriot community, and Rolf Denktash, leader of the Turkish community, for a sixth round of talks in Geneva in January 2001. Cyprus has been divided into the Turkish Cypriots-controlled north and the Greek Cypriots-dominated south since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded and occupied the northern one-third of the island in the wake of an abortive pro-Athens military coup in Nicosia. |
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