Mustafa Ak

Turkey is displaying a largely hands-off attitude to the current Cyprus negotiations, according to Turkish Cypriot Foreign Minister Emine Çolak. Turkey's stance at the moment is devoid of any manipulation or interference, she says Ankara is allowing the two sides in the Cyprus dispute to pursue negotiations to unify the island in peace, according to the north's foreign minister.

A statement by Espen Barth Eide, the United Nations? Cyprus envoy, on the return of land has triggered unrest in the Turkish side of the divided island. 

?Regarding property, the leaders agreed that the individual?s right to property is respected,? Eide said earlier this week, in a statement issued on their behalf.

Defying all skeptics, pulling down old taboos one after the other and with an unaccustomed absence of leaks and public mudslinging, the Cyprus talks appear to be gearing up to yet another twin referenda in March-April 2016.

Perhaps time has come to try to convince the two peoples of Cyprus that what the two leaders and negotiating teams have been discussing ?discreetly?

U.N. Security Council backing for the reunification of Cyprus is ?encouraging,? though no timetable is in the cards, the United Nations Special Adviser on Cyprus said July 22.

A ?United Cyprus Federation? has been on the agenda of resumed negotiations with the Greek side of the divided island, Turkish Cypriot President Mustafa Ak?nc? has said.

The re-started talks in Cyprus offer an opportunity for both parties, visiting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an said while addressing the crowd during a ceremony in Nicosia to mark the 41st anniversary of the Turkish military intervention on the island following a pro-Greek coup.  

As the re-started talks on Cyprus gain momentum, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an will visit the northern half of the divided Mediterranean island on July 20 to attend ceremonies marking the 41st anniversary of the foundation of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. 

In the protracted negotiations to bring together the Turkish and Greek communities of Cyprus, few would imagine that a rubbery cheese would make its mark.

But on July 17, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker announced the sides had reached a ?common understanding? on registering halloumi cheese as a ?protected designation of origin? (PDO) product under EU law.

Long-divided Cyprus has no better chance than now to strike a UN-brokered peace deal, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told the Greek Cypriot parliament on July 17.