Brussels, 29/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 28 April, the spokesperson for the Greek Cypriot government, Nicos Christodoulides, announced that President of the Republic of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades and the newly elected leader of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (recognised only by Turkey) Mustafa Akinci are to meet on Saturday 2 May.
Anastasiades and Akinci will discuss reconciliation efforts, which have been at a halt since October, Christodoulides stated. The UN special envoy, Espen Barth Eide, is expected on Cyprus on 4-8 May to prepare for the resumption of talks.
Elsewhere, Anastasiades has announced “a mutually beneficial set of confidence building measures” which “will be working towards strengthening the negotiating procedure”. “It is with special satisfaction that I ascertain the willingness of the new leader of the Turkish Cypriots, Mr Akinci, to engage in a dialogue for the adoption of the measures that will secure a climate of trust and hope among the entire people of Cyprus, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots”, he added.
On 2 May, Anastasiades is expected to give maps and data to Akinci on 28 sites mined by the Greek Cypriot army before 1974, which are situated in the territory of Northern Cyprus. The lack of detailed maps has prevented the UN from clearing the mines. Anastasiades has also proposed giving the management of places of Muslim worship in the southern part of the island to the Turkish Cypriot institution responsible for religious property. He said that a decision has been taken to recruit Turkish language employees in citizen service centres in Nicosia, so that services to Turkish Cypriots can be facilitated. Anastasiades hailed the ongoing work to unite football on Cyprus with a single championship for the whole island - which he said he wanted to come about as soon as possible.
In an interview with Turkish daily newspaper Milliyet, Akinci said Turkish Cypriots wanted to create a united federal Cyprus. “Our hope is to reach a result through the negotiations in the framework of political equality and a dialogue with Turkey”, Akinci said. Although Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has reiterated that Turkey should remain the mother country of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Akinci - who had just previously underlined the need for the emancipation of Turkish Cypriots with regard to Ankara - added that the relationship between the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and Turkey should be “brotherly, and not a mother-child relationship”. “The Turkish Cypriot community must fly with its own wings in order to be stronger within a federal State and within the EU - of which the Republic of Cyprus is a member, and which the Turkish Cypriots will join automatically once the island is reunified”, he added. (Camille-Cerise Gessant)