Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci were meeting in Nicosia’s UN compound on Friday in an effort to resume peace negotiations that collapsed in Switzerland two years ago.
Their informal morning meeting is the first since February and takes place amid tensions surround Turkey’s illegal drilling activities in Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone.
Both leaders were greeted by the UN chief of mission in Cyprus, Elizabeth Spehar at her residence in the United Nations protected area of the now defunct Nicosia airport.
Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The last round of negotiations, in July 2017, at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended in failure, there have been no talks since then.
Anastasiades pledged that he is going to the meeting with Akinci determined to work for an acceptable solution to the Cyprus problem.
He called on Akinci to realize that what is most important of all, is to have mutual respect and take into account what each state seeks, namely the international law and Cyprus’ status as an EU country.
“If all the above are taken into consideration we could work so that the solution is accepted by the international community, but especially by those who will be affected, the residents of Cyprus.”
Anastasiades added: “We need to address the concerns of the Turkish Cypriots, but we cannot overlook those of the Greek Cypriots.”
He called on Ankara to change its stance. He said that if Turkey wants to help, since the solution depends on its stance, it should display good will by terminating its illegal actions or any actions which do not contribute to a good environment but rather undermines it.
The President said that the meeting is taking place to address any dangers related to natural gas, the escalation of the standoff and to work for a solution that is in the framework of what has been decided.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied its northern third.
Turkey started drilling off Cyprus in May with the Turkish drill ship “Fatih”, which remains anchored 36 nautical miles west of the Akamas peninsula, in an area that falls within the EEZ and continental shelf of the Republic of Cyprus.
A second Turkish drill ship, “Yavuz” has begun drilling off the island’s north-eastern coast despite the EU imposing sanctions on Ankara over its illegal operation in Cyprus waters.
