UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday he is dispatching the UN's top political official to Cyprus to hold talks with parties on the Mediterranean island.
Ban told reporters that he was sending Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe to head a team that would "engage in dialogue with all stakeholders" in Cyprus.
"We hope that we will be able to see improvement and make some breakthrough in this long-pending issue in Europe," Ban said.
The secretary-general said he was encouraged by both the signals so far from Cyprus' new president Demetris Christofias and from the Turkish Cypriot leader, Mehmet Ali Talat, who met with Ban last week in Senega.
Christofias and Talat have agreed to take part in direct talks under UN auspices this Friday in Nicosia.
Cyprus has remained divided since 1974 when Turkey militarily intervened and occupied the north of the island following a coup by a group of Greek officers, who pushed for a union with Greece.
In 1983, the Turkish Cypriot authorities declared that they had broken away from Cyprus and set up "the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus," which is recognized only by Turkey.
For several decades, the UN has continuously worked to persuade the two communities to find a viable solution to the Cyprus issue but has failed so far.
Source:Xinhua
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