Cyprus–Greece relations

By Menelaos Hadjicostis

Cyprus's rival leaders met Friday at a United Nations compound to restart talks aimed at ending the small Mediterranean island nation's four decades of division.

Foreign Minister Özdil Nami is to represent Turkish Cypriots in negotiations with the Greek Cypriot side, the newly-elected President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Mustafa Ak?nc?, has said in a statement.
      
"An important window of opportunity to resolve the Cyprus issue" is available, according to the May 1 statement of Ak?nc?.

On the telephone, the voice of new Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Ak?nc? was rather energetic, determined and to the point: "Enough my friend? Few things were said; it is over. No merit in continuing discussion."

It is difficult to grow up on an island. It is even more difficult if that island is a bi-communal one and you belong to the numerically smaller community. Well, I would not say "minority," as we Turkish Cypriots hate that word. Nowhere else in the world, perhaps, does a father or mother celebrate when, for the first time, their kid "rebels" and serves a "nice kick" to either of them.

Greek Cypriots welcomed the election of a moderate Turkish Cypriot leader in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on April 27, saying they anticipated a swift resumption of stalled peace talks.

Greek Cypriots welcomed the election of a moderate Turkish Cypriot leader in northern Cyprus on Monday, saying they anticipated a swift resumption of stalled peace talks.

The citizens of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus will vote in a presidential election on April 19, with an atmosphere of returning to the bargaining table developing on both the Turkish and Greek sides of the divided island. 

A Turkish Cypriot man has turned the U.N.-led Cyprus negotiations into a satirical video game, saying it irked Greek Cypriots for showing Greek Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades ?running from the table.?

A U.N. envoy for the divided island of Cyprus said April 7 he expected stalled peace talks to resume "within weeks," following a six-month suspension in a row over offshore gas reserves.

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.