Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci embark today on an intensified phase of UN-led peace talks with a view to discuss all core pending issues.
They are set to have their first of seven meetings at 10.00 local time (07.00 GMT), under UN aegis, at the now defunct Nicosia airport. The meetings will conclude on 14 September, and three days later President Anastasiades is due to fly to New York to attend the UN General Assembly.
Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency, Government Spokesmand Nikos Christodoulides said that starting today discussions will cover all chapters, including issues that have not been discussed in depth or matters on which there are disagreements. Today, the two leaders will also decide the agenda of the meetings to follow in the ongoing, intensified stage of the Cyprus talks.
“The next seven meetings will be particularly important and will determine the way the whole process can go ahead,” Christodoulides has told CNA.
The objective is to increase common understanding between the two sides or even achieve convergences, he added.
During the meeting on Tuesday, the two sides are expected to set the concrete agenda of their next meetings and discuss their expectations in regard to the outcome of this new, intensified phase of the talks.
The seven meetings are set to take place on August 23, 29, 31 and September 2, 6, 8 and 14.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. UN-led talks between Anastasiades and Akinci have been underway since May 2015, aiming to reunify the island under a federal roof.