Özdil Nami

Talks on the reunification of Cyprus should resume only if the "political status" of Turkish Cypriots is addressed should the new talks fail, a senior Turkish Cypriot official said.

Speculation over the opening of the fenced-off town of Varosha may lead to that eventuality, but it will take a decade before the first displaced inhabitant gets to return.

This is what a political analyst told the Cyprus Weekly following the furore sparked by signals from Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot side that they are considering opening the once cosmopolitan “ghost town”.

The President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nikos Anastasiades will meet with the leader of the northern Cypriot community Mustafa Akinci on Thursday afternoon at the Lefkosia airport. The issue on the agenda of talks are expected to include the EU, governance and the economy. Two men are meeting in the framework of negotiations for the resolution of the Cypriot problem.

The Special Adviser of the U.N. Secretary-General on Cyprus, Espen Barth Eide, said March 4 that he believed the two leaders of the divided island are committed to making the unification process work. 

His remarks came after a three-hour meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akıncı in Nicosia, one day after meeting with Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades on March 3. 

The United Nations said two days of expert-level talks on the possible reunification of Cyprus had ended on Jan. 19, describing them as a success but without disclosing any details.

Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders agreed May 28 to open further crossing points linking the two parts and to merge their electricity networks, a U.N. envoy has said. 

A solution to the Cyprus problem is possible within months, the Turkish Cypriot chief negotiator in UN-brokered talks that resumed this week on reunifying the island said on Saturday.

Negotiations between the Turkish Cypriot government and the Greek Cypriot administration to find a solution to the ongoing dispute over the divided island are to resume, the recently elected Turkish Cypriot president has announced.

Some people are unhappy with the "negotiator" pick of new Turkish Cypriot President Mustafa Ak?nc?. The president is a social democrat and from the Communal Democracy Party (TDP), while the negotiator is a socialist and from the Republican Turks' Party (CTP), leading some to say that the new president has established a coalition at the presidency from day one.

The newly elected president of Turkish Cyprus, Mustafa Ak?nc?, will pay his first official customary visit abroad to the Turkish capital city of Ankara this week.

Ak?nc?, who took oath on April 30, will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Özdil Nami during his one-day visit on May 6, the press office of the Turkish Cypriot presidency said over the weekend.