Greek, Turkish Cypriot leaders complete two years of negotiations

The leaders of two Cypriot communities completed on Friday two years of negotiations on the intractable Cyprus problem and are still struggling to find middle ground on key issues.

Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias, who is also the President of the internationally recognized Cyprus Republic, met with Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu for almost two hours in the UN-controlled buffer zone.

The two continued talks on the thorniest issue -- the future of properties abandoned by their owners in the wake of the 1974 Turkish military intervention.

Turkey sent troops to the Meditarranean island in response to a coup by Greek army officers, leading to its division to a Turkish Cypriot north and a Greek Cypriot south.

The two communities launched renewed negotiations two years ago, trying to reunify the island under a bi-commual bi-zonal federal structure.

They have reported convergence on the issues of power sharing, relations with the European Union and the economy, but they are still far apart on the issue of properties. They have not yet touched the chapters of territorial adjustments, the repatriation of tens of thousands of mainland Turkish settlers and the presence of foreign troops and guarantees.

A sign of difficulties ahead was a statement by the United Nations Secretary General's advisor on Cyprus, Alexander Downer, who oversees the talks that Christofias and Eroglu did not table a summary of their respective positions on the property issue, as agreed at an earlier meeting on Tuesday.


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