Mustafa Akıncı

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci are to meet on Monday night for a dinner in Nicosia's buffer zone to discuss the possibility of relauncing peace talks which collapsed last year.

The dinner is to be hosted by the UN Secretary General's Special Representative in Cyprus Elizabeth Spehar.

Cyprus reunification talks should be aimed at the creation of a functional, viable and modern state that is compatible with European Union principles, Cyprus President Nikos Anastasiades said in his message for Greek Orthodox Easter on Saturday.

The UN is hoping dinner diplomacy can push-start stalled Cyprus reunification talks after Cypriot leaders agreed to meet for dinner to iron-out differences.

A statement was issued by the UN on Friday to confirm President Nicosia Anastasiades and Mustafa Akinci will meet on April 16 inside the UN-controlled buffer zone in Nicosia at the defunct airport.

Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot administration are not yet prepared to resume talks to reunite the ethnically-split island stalled months ago, Cyprus government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides has told state broadcaster RIK.

Turkish Cypriot President Mustafa Akıncı approved a new four-party coalition government on Feb. 2.

What has changed since the inconclusive termination of the Cyprus talks at Crans-Montana? Nothing. Is there hope for the success of a new round of Cyprus talks should the sides decide to rehash the process?

 No way. Why then, has everyone started talking about the need to resume talks? Don't they have anything else to keep themselves busy?

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias has accused Britain of playing a hand in derailing a UN initiative to help broker a Cyprus solution during last summer’s peace talks in Switzerland.

Voicing frustration over the collapse of peace talks last summer to reunite Cyprus, the president of Turkish Cyprus said on Sept. 14 that Turkish Cypriots have no intention of entering an open-ended process with an unclear outcome.

Mustafa Akıncı, the president of Turkish Cyprus, is scheduled to speak today at a conference organized by the Economic Development Foundation (IKV). 

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades on Saturday denounced statements made by Turkish-Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci after the failed negotiations to reunify the island in July as "unacceptable."