UN envoy says halted Cyprus peace talks to restart soon

A United Nations envoy says halted talks on reunifying ethnically divided Cyprus will resume after a clash over the island's potential offshore gas riches has subsided.

Espen Barth Eide told reporters Tuesday that Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu agreed to resume talks after an April 19 Turkish Cypriot leadership election.

Cyprus was divided in 1974 when Turkey invaded after a coup by supporters of union with Greece.

Anastasiades put talks on ice last October when Turkey launched a search for gas off the island in waters where the Cypriot government had licensed companies to drill.

Turkey doesn't recognize Cyprus and says a unilateral Greek Cypriot search for gas infringes upon the rights of breakaway Turkish Cypriots to mineral wealth.

[AP]