Cyprus Leaders Agree to Open Two New Border Crossings and Resume Dialogue

Reuters/ Petros Karadjias/POOL

UN Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General, Maria Angela Holguin, meets with the Turkish Cypriot leader, Tufan Erhurman and Cyprus' president, Nikos Christodoulides.

The leaders of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities agreed on Monday to open two new border crossings, strengthen coordination on emergency responses and share archival materials as part of a United Nations-backed initiative to revive peace talks following nearly a decade of deadlock.

The agreement brings the total number of operational crossing points on the divided Mediterranean island to 11, according to Cypriot media reports.

Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman held a joint meeting with UN Special Envoy Maria Angela Holguin, which lasted approximately four hours, in the UN-controlled buffer zone.

The latest meeting comes amid continued disagreements between the two sides over the framework and ground rules for resuming negotiations. The leaders previously met with UN Secretary-General António Guterres on the island during the summer.

But the UN said in a statement that Monday's meeting was "positive" and that the two leaders would talk again in coming weeks in the presence of Guterres.

Cyprus was split after a Turkish invasion in 1974 in response to a brief coup engineered by ‌Greece's ⁠then military rulers.

A power-sharing administration of Greek and Turkish Cypriots crumbled in 1963, and a UN force, now one of the oldest peacekeeping operations in the world, monitors a 180-km (112-mile) ceasefire line splitting the two sides.

One of the reasons past ⁠talks collapsed is disagreement on the role Turkey would play in the future. Greek Cypriots are against Ankara having any hands-on involvement, while Turkish Cypriots say it is ⁠essential.

The two leaders also discussed the potential opening of other crossing points, the UN statement added.

"We are continuing this effort with absolute seriousness and ⁠one single goal: resuming the talks before the end of the Secretary-General's term," at the end of the year, Christodoulides told reporters after the meeting.

Source: Reuters 



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