The leaders of the two communities in Cyprus, President of the Republic Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci have agreed to significantly intensify the pace of the UN-backed negotiations for a solution, following their next meeting which is set for October 30th.
The leaders met on Monday for almost four hours and after the meeting was concluded they carried on their talks during a dinner at the invitation of President Anastasiades.
UNSG Special Envoy said that the meeting was good and useful.
He read a statement to the press according to which the two leaders “deliberated on the outstanding issues in the negotiations”.
“Conscious of the need to build on the current momentum, they had a constructive exchange on remaining divergences and instructed the negotiators on the way forward”, he said.
Eide also said that the leaders welcomed the initiation of the work of the bicommunal ad hoc committee on EU preparations “which aims at preparing the future Turkish Cypriot constituent state for the implementation of the EU acquis upon entry into force of the settlement agreement”.
The leaders, he went on, recognized that serious work still lies ahead and reiterated their commitment to significantly intensify the pace of the negotiations following their next meeting on Friday 30th of October.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory. Anastasiades and Akinci have been engaged in UN-backed talks since May this year with the aim to reunite the island under a federal roof.