Greek and Turkish Cypriots will launch preparatory work for new Cyprus reunification talks on April 18, the United Nations mission on the divided island said on Wednesday.
Experts from both sides will hold their first ceremonial meeting on Friday, in the presence of the chief aides to Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, the leaders who are slated to start reunification talks by June.
"It is expected that these talks will pave the way for fully fledged negotiations in three months time. They are meant to prepare the issues so they can be dealt with by the leaders on their level," said U.N. spokesman Jose Diaz.
Thirteen teams from the island's Greek and Turkish Cypriot sides will cover preparatory groundwork ranging from governance to environmental protection work. Working groups will look at complex Cypriot reunification issues such as power-sharing and linking the island's two economies, and technical committees to look at matters like environmental protection, cooperation on crime prevention and cultural issues.
The U.N. political chief Lynn Pascoe reaffirmed his optimism over the solution, speaking to reporters on Wednesday after briefing the Security Council on his three-day trip to the divided Mediterranean island earlier this month.
"I was really optimistic after my discussion with both sides," Pascoe said. "I gave the council a fairly optimistic report today, all of us recognizing that there are many, many difficult issues out there that have to be resolved," he was quoted as saying by AP.
Pascoe also said the U.N. wanted the working groups of Turkish and Greek Cypriot parties to start negotiations on core issues of the dispute in Cyprus next week. He said if the working groups start moving, "and if that process is positive, and we believe it will be," Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will consider appointing a personal envoy to help promote progress as the two sides get into more substantive discussions.
Christofias and Talat are set to begin reunification talks in June after a three-month preparation period. Both have said they would seek a deal to reunify the island "as soon as possible." In a symbolic move a key crossing point was opened in the capital Nicosia in early April.
Joan Ryan, Britain's envoy to Cyprus said London was committed to working with all sides to reunify the breakaway Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots, after her meeting with Christofias in Nicosia on Tuesday. But she said a reunification deal was a Cypriot prerogative, with Britain ready to assist the peace process.
The British envoy met with Talat on Wednesday. After the meeting Ryan told reporters she had seen that Talat is willing to resolve Cyprus problem, the Anatolian Agency reported. Ryan said she will continue talks with both parties in Cyprus to encourage them to maintain their efforts for reunification of the island.
Ryan also met with Turkish Cypriot Foreign Minister Turgay Avci on Wednesday. The Turkish Cypriot FM communicated to Ryan his view that the EU, in particular Britain as the guarantor state, ought to urge Greek Cypriots to seek a solution which recognized Turkish Cypriots as their equal, and for an extensive solution that was just and egalitarian, Avci said in a press conference after the meeting, the Anatolian Agency reported.
"Political equality of the two communities, a bi-zonal structure, the existence of two equal founder states, and Turkey's guarantor status is non-negotiable," Avci told Ryan during the meeting.